


The Mystery Deepens

by Shadowhunter_Artemis



Series: Impossible Girl Saga [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Adopted Siblings, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2020-03-02 16:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 45,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18814954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowhunter_Artemis/pseuds/Shadowhunter_Artemis
Summary: The mystery surrounding the violet eyed girl deepens with more visits from Naiyah and a surprising interest from a Mr Saxon. Will the Doctor solve the puzzle that is his impossible girl? And will Imogen and the Doctor be able to move past the loss of Rose?





	1. Chapter 1

**Description of Imogen: she’s 5.5ft with long brown hair, fair skin and violet eyes. As of Platform One she wears a golden locket engraved with Gallifreyan. Imogen looks similar to Emily Rudd.**

~Roald Dahl Plass~

“Thanks for dropping me off”, Harmony said as she, the Doctor and Imogen stepped out of the TARDIS.

“You’re welcome”, Imogen said.

“You sure you won’t keep travelling with us?” the Doctor asked slightly hoping that she would change her mind. Considering that they were the last of the Time Lords.

“I’m sure. I’ve got stuff I need to do Doctor”, Harmony said.

“Are we going to see you again?” Imogen asked.

Harmony smiled “you can count on it Imogen”, she replied before she walked away. The Doctor and Imogen watched her go before the former turned to the latter.

“Are you ok?” the Doctor asked carefully.

“Yeah…I’m ok”, Imogen replied but the Doctor could see that she was hurting over her best friend. The Time Lord pulled her into a hug.  

“Imogen?” the Doctor said after a moment of silence.

“Hm…?” Imogen said looking up at him. The Doctor bent his head down and softly kissed her.

“I love you”, he said “you beautiful…clever…impossible girl”. Imogen blushed at his compliment earning a smile from the Doctor.  

“I love you too”, Imogen said “you handsome Time Lord”. She pressed her lips against his in a quick kiss. “Um…Doctor would it be ok if we went to see my mum?” Imogen asked “I want to make sure she’s ok”.

“Of course”, the Doctor replied and the pair walked back into the TARDIS.

~Bannerman Road~

Sarah Jane glanced over at the door when she heard a very familiar wheezing sound. She smiled as the TARDIS appeared in the attic. “Mum!” Imogen cried running out of the blue box and over to the woman, flinging her arms around her.

“It’s good to see you too sweetheart”, Sarah Jane said patting her daughter on the back “what brought that on?”

 Imogen pulled back to look at her mother confused “what do you mean, what brought that on? I was worried about you. Daleks and Cybermen having a fire fight?”

 “Honey that was months ago”, Sarah Jane told her.

“What?” Imogen spun around to face the Doctor who had the decency to look guilty “you promised me that you’d get me back the same day!”

“I thought I had, I’m sorry Imogen”, he said apologetically.

Imogen sighed “that’s ok Doctor”. She should’ve known that was going to happen. After all the Doctor’s track record hadn’t been the best in regards to getting them precisely where they wanted to go. She looked at her mother “you didn’t get hurt during that fight did you?” she asked.

“No I didn’t”, Sarah Jane assured her.

“Good. That’s good”, Imogen said relieved.

“So where’s Rose?” Sarah Jane asked not seeing the blonde with them.

“She’s not travelling with us anymore. She decided that she wanted to spend more time with her mother”, Imogen replied “so um are you currently working on any interesting cases?” she asked wanting to change the subject. Although it had been a few months her mother, the battle of Canary Warf wasn’t that long ago for herself and the Doctor. A few hours actually. So the topic of Rose Tyler was still a bit of a sensitive one for them.

“Actually I am”, Sarah Jane answered turning back to her computer. She brought up an image of the Bubble Shock factory on the screen for the Doctor and Imogen to look at. “This company: Bubble Shock seemingly appeared out of nowhere”

“What does Bubble Shock make?” the Doctor asked.

“Some sort of pop drink. From what I’ve found out this company has somehow managed to get approval from the EU to market Bubble Shock in two weeks”. 

Imogen frowned “that doesn’t seem right. Surely it takes a lot longer, not to mention the numerous amounts of testing before any company gets approval to market new food and drink”, she said.

“Normally it does”, Sarah Jane agreed “I’ve tried to get in contact with them…phone calls….emails but no one is responding”.

“Maybe it’s time to visit the factory nearest here and get some answers”, Imogen suggested.

“I couldn’t agree more”, Sarah Jane said “do you want to come with me?”

“Count me in”, Imogen said enthusiastically. She looked at the Time Lord “how about you Doctor? You wanna help?”

“Absolutely”, the Doctor replied. He was more than eager for a new adventure. Sarah Jane smiled, glad that they both wanted to help.

“Ok so here’s what I think we should do….”

\--------------

The plan itself was pretty simple. Imogen was going to get the free bus to the factory and take in the tour of the place while the Doctor and Sarah Jane gained entrance via a more ‘covert’ method.

Imogen fiddled with her locket while she waited for the Bubble Shock bus. As she waited, two girls aged around 14 or 15 approached the bus stop. “There you go. You got my number. Don't give it to anyone in Year Eight”, the black girl, Kelsey said to the curly haired brunette, Maria.

Sarah Jane’s green car drove past, containing the woman herself and the Doctor. Imogen watched it go. “That's the mad woman. Always racing about”, Kelsey remarked.

“She's a bit glamorous, though. What does she do?” Maria asked. Imogen stood there quietly listening in on their conversation all the while making it look like she wasn’t.

“Journalist or something”, Kelsey replied “My Mum's friend Kath Pontin says she never has anyone around. Never talks to anyone except her daughter, Imogen. Did you know that Imogen disappeared for an entire year? I recon she wanted to get escape her mother’s madness so she ran away. If I had a mum like Sarah Jane, I’d run away too…” Imogen gripped her locket, in anger. She had no right to talk about her mother like that! But instead of saying anything, she held her tongue. “This guy Sakkib once saw her by the station, and she was talking to this big crystal thing, and it moved!”

“What, like a monster or something?” Maria asked. Before Kelsey could answer, a bright orange bus stamped with the words ‘Bubble Shock’ on the side came around the corner. Imogen got on when it stopped followed by Kelsey and Maria.

The violet eyed girl grabbed a small bottle of Bubble Shock from the bucket at the front and sat down. She knew that it wasn’t a good idea to try the stuff especially if there was something weird going on but she figured it couldn’t hurt to have a tiny sip. Imogen cracked open the bottle, took the smallest sip possible and nearly gagged. It was horrible! She masked her disgust from the other passengers as she screwed the lid back on.

“I don't get how this Bubble Shock stuff's supposed to work”, Maria said to Kelsey who was sitting across the aisle from Imogen.

“I don't care. It just makes you feel all wide awake, and it tastes fab”, Kelsey said.

“I think it's disgusting”, Maria stated. _You and me both_ Imogen agreed.

“You're one of the 2% then”, Kelsey informed her. _Yeah, mum did mention something like that. Seems like I’m one of the 2% too._ “Doesn't work on two percent of the people, and that's a fact, that is. Anyway, it's organic”.

Maria took the bottle from Kelsey “So that makes it all right then, just the magic word organic?” she questioned.

“Well, it's natural… and that's good” Kelsey countered. She snatched the bottle back “…so there”.

~Factory~

Imogen trails along behind the group as they’re lead through a set of double doors by a young man in a suit. “Right, welcome to the Bubble Shock Experience”, the young man, Davey said as he walked up to a what appeared to be some sort of fully body scanner, similar to what they’d had at the airports. “If you'd like to step through the archway”, Davey instructed as he stepped through himself.

One by one the visitors step though, a bright flash going off whenever they did so. “Security scan in a pop factory?” Maria asked rather surprised to see one there.

“People want to steal the recipe”, Kelsey explained. She stepped through and looked back at Maria who seemed a bit unsure. “Come on”, Kelsey urged “it doesn't hurt”.

Imogen stepped up to Maria “it’s nothing to be worried about”, she said although it did get her mind going. Why have a security scan in the factory? If that even was what it is. It looked almost futuristic looking. Imogen stepped through the archway, feeling a slight tingle across her skin as the light flashed. She glanced back at Maria and beckoned her through.

Maria took a breath and stepped through the security arch. The bright light flashed as she did so. “See? No biggie”, Imogen said.

“Yeah…no biggie”, Maria agreed.

“I’m Imogen by the way”, Imogen said introducing herself.

“Maria”, Maria said introducing herself as well.

~Outside the factory~

 _Cargo now departing for mainland Europe. Cargo now departing for Central America. Cargo now departing for central California._ Came over the tannoy as the Doctor and Sarah Jane crept round the building to find a way in. The pair stopped by a door marked CPM SWITCH ROOM. The Doctor used his sonic on the door and pulled it open to find two men in orange overalls.

~Factory~

Imogen tried not to be impressed as the tour group was led into the main area of the factory. She was here to find out what was going on, not to gawk at the place. “It's huge!” Maria exclaimed as they walked down the steps.

“I've seen it loads of times”, Kelsey informed her.

“Okay, just a quick reminder. If you could turn off your mobile phones”, Davey instructed as they walked “That means all of you. We have extremely sensitive equipment here and the signals can interfere with the machinery. So phones off”.

“What's a mobile going to do, make the bubbles go flat?” Maria joked. Imogen bit back a laugh at her sass. She liked this girl.

“That's enough lip at the back. Just do it”, Davey ordered. Kelsey flipped her phone shut and stuck it in her pocket “Thank you”.

“That's a bit rude”, Maria muttered turning her own phone off.

“He’s not ginger”, Imogen said under her breath, a smile coming to her face as she recalled the times she would say to the Doctor ‘rude and not ginger’.

“I don't care, he's a total muffin”, Kelsey said leaning against the railing. Imogen raised an eye brow at the tone of her voice. It sounded like she had a crush on the guy. In her opinion he was…ok to look at. Nothing compared to the Doctor though.

“Okay, everyone. This is the main production area”, Davey said gesturing around the large room “And before we go any further, I'd like to offer you more free samples” a trolley of Bubble Shock drinks was wheeled in. _Blimey, they’re eager to give those away_ Imogen thought. “Help yourselves”

Everyone rushes forward to the trolley picking up as many as they could carry each. “Not going to get a free sample?” Imogen asked Maria who hadn’t moved.

“I’m in the 2% with the wrong taste buds”, Maria told her “what about you?”

“Same”, Imogen said “it’s disgusting”, she added quietly.

“Oi! You two!” Davey called getting the attention of Maria and Imogen. He beckoned them forward and they comply. “No Bubble Shock?” he asked.

“Sadly no, we’re part of the 2% with the wrong taste buds”, Imogen replied.

Davey picked up a bottle of Bubble Shock “Oh. Don't worry, we're working on it. Soon we'll have everyone drinking Bubble Shock”, he said. Davey tossed a bottle to Maria and Imogen “The whole world”

“I'd rather have a cup of tea”, Maria stated dropping the bottle back into the trolley.

“Even if you could perfect it, I would sooner eat a pear than have another sip of this”, Imogen declared dumping her bottle back into the trolley as well “and I hate pears”.

~Office~

Two cups of tea were set down in front of the Doctor and Sarah Jane. “Thank you. That's very kind”, Sarah Jane said politely while the Doctor didn’t say anything.

“Think of yourself as our guests”, the blonde woman, Mrs Wormwood said.

“We weren’t breaking in, we was just trying to reach someone in charge”, Sarah Jane quickly explained “I phoned about a hundred times, but no one would talk to me”.

“I've seen the list. Phone calls, emails. Miss Sarah Jane Smith certainly makes her presence felt”, Mrs Wormwood remarked.

“Do you mind if I take notes?” Sarah Jane asked pulling out her little black notebook from her handbag.

“Not at all. And since you and Mr…”

“Keiran. John Kieran”, the Doctor said. Sarah Jane just about stopped herself from looking at him in surprise. It wasn’t the alias he’d usually go for. In fact Kieran was the name that Imogen would often use when undercover so no one knew they were related.   

“Since you and Mr Kieran have been so bold, let's make this an official interview”, Mrs Wormwood.

“And it's…” Sarah Jane glanced at the name plate on the desk “Mrs Wormwood?”

“That's correct”, Mrs Wormwood confirmed.

“As a matter of fact, that's in the Bible, Wormwood”, the Doctor spoke up “The Book of Revelations. At the end of the world, it describes a star falling to Earth and poisoning the waters. A star called Wormwood”.

“Fascinating”, Mrs Wormwood said dryly “Shall we move on to business?”

“I've got contacts in the City. They said it was like this company dropped in from nowhere. And normally it takes years of tests to get approval from the EU to market a new foodstuff. You got it in two weeks”, Sarah Jane said.

“All we're doing is satisfying a need”, Mrs Wormwood said simply.

“Which is what exactly?” the Doctor asked.

“The people are hungry, Miss Smith, Mr Kieran”, Mrs Wormwood replied “For new food, new drinks, new tastes. All the Western world does is eat. All day, every day, eating. They gorge and feast and chew and bite, everything sweet and hot and cold and sticky. Food and drink. Just food and drink, that's the human race. They devour. Who are we to deny them?”

“So you invented Bane?” Sarah Jane asked.

“The Bane in Bubble Shock isn't new. Oh, no. It's very, very old”, Mrs Wormwood answered “Come and see”. The woman got up and walked over to a large stand-alone screen. The Doctor and Sarah Jane followed her, the Time Lord’s mind working hard to figure out what was going on. It definitely seemed to him that there was more to Mrs Wormwood than first appears. And Bane…that name seemed familiar to him. He hoped Imogen was having more luck.  

~Factory~

The girl in question had managed to slip away from the tour and was having a bit of a wander. “There must be something around here”, she murmured as she walked. Imogen’s eyes lit up when she spotted a set of double doors. She went over, pushed them open and went inside. “This is more like it”, Imogen remarked seeing the machinery along the walls. One particular screen caught her eye and she walked over to it. “So that’s they were doing. Full body scans”, she said watching the images flicker across the screen “but what on earth for?”

Imogen reached for the key board when all of a sudden an alarm blared.  


	2. Chapter 2

“Guess that’s my cue”, Imogen said and dashed out of the room. She ran along corridors trying to find a way out, all the while the alarm blared overhead. The brunette yelped when she collided with someone as she rounded the corner. It was Maria with an unfamiliar boy dressed in what appeared to be some sort of hospital garb. “Maria? What on earth are you doing here?” Imogen asked trying to calm her racing heart “and who is this?”

“I don’t know, I was looking for Kelsey and I ran into him”, Maria replied.

“I knew I had to get away”, the boy, the Archetype stated.

“I think that goes for all of us”, Imogen said grabbing the Archetype’s hand.

“But what about Kelsey?!” Maria called after them as they walked quickly away.

“I’m sure she’s fine Maria. Now come on!” Imogen called back. Maria hesitated for a moment before she followed after them. The trio ran down the corridor with Imogen maintaining a firm grip on the Archetype’s hand. She didn’t know why but she felt this urge to protect him. It was similar to the one she sometimes gets around the Doctor.

Imogen pulled both the boy and Maria behind some machinery moments before a group of men in orange overalls jogged past. “We've got to find a place to hide”, Maria stated as she watched them go.

“Not a bad idea actually”, Imogen agreed. It wasn’t going to be easy getting all three of them out safely, not with alarms blaring and factory workers running about. If it was just her, it would be easy peasy but she wasn’t going to risk the lives of Maria and the Archetype.

Maria smiled when she spotted a door with a sign marked ‘Ladies’. “Imogen”, she said and when the violet eyed girl looked at her, she gestured to the sign.

“That’ll do”, Imogen said, approving of her choice of hiding place. They stepped out of their hiding place and went for the Ladies room.

The room was small with only three cubicles. There was also a window, not a very big one but they could all fit through. “Stand back”, Imogen ordered pulling out her sonic from her pocket. She pointed it at the window and pressed the button. Imogen, Maria and the Archetype shielded themselves as the glass shattered. Imogen shrugged off her jacket, wrapping it around her hand and used it to clear away shards of glass that’s was left. She then draped it over the window frame before helping both Maria and the Archetype out the window. Imogen clambered out the window, grabbed the Archetype’s hand again and ran for the car.

When they reached the car, Imogen used her sonic on the car to unlock it “get in!” she ordered, pulling the door open and pushing the seat back. As Maria and the Archetype got in the car, Imogen heard two sets of running footsteps. She spun around and was relieved to see the Doctor and her mother hurrying towards her.

 “Imogen! Are you ok?” Sarah Jane asked.

“Yeah I’m fine. But I ran into a slight complication…” Imogen gestured to the car.

Sarah Jane glanced through the car window “we’ll deal with it when we get home”, she said. Imogen got in the back with Maria and the Archetype while the Doctor got in the front passenger seat. Sarah Jane started up the car and sped away from the Bubble Shock factory.

~Outside Sarah Jane's home~

The moment Sarah Jane pulled out of the driveway, the Doctor got out allowing the three in the back to get out of the car. “But who is he? What was he doing in that factory? What were they doing in there?” Maria asked, desperately wanting answers.

“Just leave it. You go home, Maria, we can handle things from now on”, Sarah Jane said practically marching the Archetype towards the house.

“But there's something going on”, Maria said, not about to let this go “I saw you last night”, she added making Sarah Jane stop and turn back to her “With that thing in your garden. That alien”.

Sarah Jane walked towards Maria “Now listen to me, Maria. Our lives are dangerous. And for me, I like to work alone because I don’t like putting other people in danger. Not even my own daughter” Sarah Jane pointed to Imogen “and she is far more capable of taking care of herself. I don’t like putting her in danger and I certainly don’t like putting a child at risk either”.

“I'm not a child”, Maria shot back.

“Maria, just go back home”, Sarah Jane said firmly “You watch telly, you do whatever it is you do. You just live your life as normal. You forget any of this happened. Have you got that? You stay away from us, for your own sake”. And with that Sarah Jane turned and ushered the Archetype inside.

Maria looked at the Doctor and Imogen, eyes shining with tears. “She’s right Maria”, the Doctor agreed “it’s best that you forget all of this”. The teenager turned and ran, right across the road to the house opposite.

“I’ll be back in a minute”, Imogen said to the Doctor. Without waiting for a reply she hurried across the road to Maria’s house. She got to the front door just time to stop it from slamming shut. Imogen slipped inside and rushed up the stairs startling Alan Jackson, Maria’s father.

Maria looked up when she heard her bedroom door open and was very surprised to see Imogen standing there. “Imogen? What are you doing here?” she sniffled.

“I came to apologise for the way my mum acted”, Imogen replied sitting on the end of the bed “she definitely could’ve told you in a slightly better way”.

“You agree with her and that guy then?” Maria asked.

“For the most part”, Imogen replied “my mum was right about our lives being dangerous. You never know exactly what you’re going to face next. I’ve met all manner of aliens through my travels with the Doctor, the man you saw. Some of them are friendly and some of them are not. And I’ve had my fair share of close calls with those not so friendly ones” she explained “But despite all that I know you’re not going to forget everything that had happened”.

“How can I? Now that I know aliens exist, how am I supposed to go back to living a normal life?” Maria asked.

“Well if I was in your postion, I’d find it very difficult to forget it all and carry on as if nothing had ever happened” Imogen sighed “and as you are kind of already pretty involved considering it was you who found the boy in the first place… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you help”.  

Maria beamed “thank you Imogen!” she said happily and hugged the young Smith.

“You’re welcome”, Imogen said pulling back “but this is a onetime deal. Once it’s over, you go back to your normal life, ok?”

Maria nodded “ok”, she agreed. It was going to be hard to live a normal life but at least Imogen was letting her help.

Imogen knew that her mother wasn’t going to be happy and neither was the Doctor. But she didn’t see any harm in letting Maria help just this once. And she was around so she can make sure the teen doesn’t get into any trouble.   

Then an all too familiar sensation of a ‘feeling’ came over her. But this one left her with a really bad feeling about her mother. Imogen shot to her feet, wrenched the door open and raced down the stairs. She ignored Maria who was calling after her and she ignored her dad as well. Imogen pulled open the front door and pushed past Kelsey who was just outside.

“Hey!” the girl protested. Imogen skidded to a stop outside the front door and fumbled for her sonic that was in her pocket, not easy when her hands where shaking.

“Imogen what’s going on?” Maria asked coming to stop next to her.

“Trouble”, Imogen replied simply. She just managed to get her sonic from her pocket and was about to use it when all of a sudden a scream sounded behind them. Imogen and Maria spin around to find Kelsey standing there staring in horror at something on the house. They follow her gaze and saw a giant squid like creature with one eye, climbing around the house.

Imogen quickly flashed her sonic on the lock “In now!” she shouted to Maria. As the brunette darted inside, Imogen grabbed the still screaming Kelsey and dragged her into the house, slamming the door shut.

“Gen what’s going on?” Sarah Jane asked as the Doctor rushed over to help Imogen keep the door shut.

“Unexpected guest! It’s here for the boy!” Imogen said pressing her back against the door the best she could “mum remember the alien ‘fire extinguisher’? We’re going to need it” she quickly added.

Sarah Jane nodded and raced up the stairs. “You three upstairs now!” Imogen ordered.

“But Sarah Jane said we're not allowed”, the Archetype informed her.

“And _I’m_ allowing you. Now go!” Imogen shouted.

“What is that thing?” Kelsey screamed.

“Just shut up and move!” Maria yelled at her. She shoved Kelsey towards the stairs, the Archetype already scrambling up them. The Doctor and Imogen abandoned the front door when they both heard the wood splintering.

“All of you, just run! As fast as you can”, the Doctor shouted. They raced up the stairs, the creature following them in leaps and bounds.

The Doctor and Imogen had nearly reached the top when all of a sudden Imogen was pulled off her feet by a large tentacle. “Doctor!” she cried as the creature dragged her down the stairs.

The Time Lord lunged for her, managing to grab her wrists. “Don’t let go”, she pleaded.

“I won’t”, the Doctor said bracing himself the best he could against the stairs and tried to pull her out of the creatures grip.

“This is not happening. This is so not happening”, Kelsey said hysterically from where she was hiding behind the Archetype.

“But that contradicts the facts”, the Archetype stated, confused.

“First you…then the man…then the children and then the old woman”, the creature declared pulling even harder on Imogen. But the Doctor wasn’t letting go either. Too many times he’d almost lost her, he wasn’t losing her to this thing.

“Hey! Less of the old!” Sarah Jane exclaimed suddenly appearing with the item Imogen had told her to get. She sprayed it at the creature making it writhe and shriek in pain. It released its hold on Imogen, the Doctor pulling her into his arms the moment she was free. They all watched the creature fall down the stairs, hitting the wall hard. It then shifted back into Davey who stared up at them, a look of terror on his face.

“It's the muffin”, Kelsey stated pointing at him.

“That is a muffin?” the Archetype asked, confused. Davey got up and hurried down the stairs.

“You all right?” the Doctor asked Imogen looking at her with concern.

She nodded “yeah. Thanks for not letting me go”, she said.

“I’ll never let you go. I love you”, the Doctor said quietly dropping a kiss on top of her head.

\-------------

“You alright honey?” Sarah Jane asked Imogen as the Doctor headed downstairs to investigate the black goop that was left behind by the creature/Davey.

“Yeah I’m fine”, Imogen replied “told you we’d need that”, she added nodding to the object in her mother’s hands.

“Yes, you did”

“Doctor if you put that stuff anywhere near your mouth I’m not going to kiss you for a week”, Imogen warned seeing the Time Lord prod the goo with a pencil.

“Oh, my flipping heck!” Kelsey suddenly shouted from the open doorway of the attic.

“No! Don't go up there!” Sarah Jane called, rushing up the stairs. Imogen quickly hurried after her, followed by Maria, the Archetype and the Doctor. “Who said you could come up here?” she asked “Don't touch anything”, Sarah Jane added quickly.

“These things, are they alien?” Maria asked looking around at the various items. The Archetype and Kelsey were doing the same. The Doctor kept an eye on Kelsey, making sure she didn’t break anything. Imogen noticed the Archetype wandering over to her desk, looking at her drawings with interest.

“Some of them”, Sarah Jane replied.

“I drew that”, Imogen told the Archetype as he picked up a sketch of K9. It was one of her old ones that she did when she was younger.

“It’s amazing”, the Archetype said.

“I wouldn’t say that. It’s not my best work. I was only 9 at the time”, Imogen said. She picked up a sketch book “these are probably my best ones”, she said. She watched as the Archetype flicked through the book.

“These are all really good”

“Thank you”, Imogen said pleased.

“And this place…it’s beautiful”, the Archetype added.

“Yeah, I suppose it is”, Imogen agreed. She did love coming up into the attic, it was probably her favourite place in the entire house. And that included her bedroom.  

“Not bad yourself, fella”, Kelsey commented looking at the Archetype through a magnifying glass before the Doctor took it away from her.

“What does that mean?” the Archetype asked confused.

“Oh, he's mine”, Kelsey declared.

“Is that good or bad?” the Archetype questioned.

“That's bad. That's very bad”, Maria replied. She turned her attention back to Sarah Jane “how did you get started?”

“I met this man. A very special man, called the Doctor” Maria glanced over at the Doctor knowing that’s who he was thanks to Imogen “And years ago, we travelled together”.

“In space?” Maria asked remembering what Imogen said about meeting aliens.

“Space, and time”, Sarah Jane replied “And then it came to an end, and suddenly I was back to a normal life. Electric bills, burst pipes, bus tickets and rain. But then my life became exciting again on 5TH march 1986”.

“What happened?” Maria asked.

“The light of my life was born”, Sarah Jane replied looking over at her daughter with a soft smile. Imogen returned the smile.

“She is completely loop the loop”, Kelsey remarked “no wonder you ran away Imogen”.

“I didn’t run away Kelsey, I was off travelling with the Doctor”, Imogen corrected her “He just got me back at the wrong date, that’s all. Just like he did this time”. She gave the Doctor a pointed look.

“I said I was sorry”, the Doctor said.

“Mad”, Kelsey said shaking her head “You’re all mad”.

“Better than being normal”, Imogen said not too bothered about being called mad.

“And the Bubble Shock factory. It's run by aliens”, Maria said.

“All right, everyone's an alien. You, me, the Pope, James Blunt…” Kelsey said “Actually, I can believe that one”. Imogen frowned at her tone of voice. How could she not believe that aliens exist? She saw one with her own eyes!

Maria seemed to be on the same wavelength as she said “but Kelsey, you saw it. That great big alien creature”.

“I saw a muffin in a suit, that's all. Like in the films. It's pretend”, Kelsey said. Suddenly a strange beeping noise sounded and Imogen grinned knowing exactly what it was.

“He’s back!” she said happily rushing over to a wall. She slid a panel upwards and opened the safe to reveal K9 floating in space, a black hole in the distance. “Hey buddy!” she greeted.

“Greetings mistress Imogen”

“There was a scientific project in Switzerland. They created their own black hole. If it gets free, the Earth would be swallowed up, so K9's sealing it off”, Sarah Jane explained as she came over with the Doctor.

“Greetings, mistress, master”, K9 said acknowledging the presence of both the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

“K9”, Maria said.

“He's our friend”, Sarah Jane told her.

“And the best dog in the entire universe”, Imogen added. That may have been a little biased on her account but she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, he IS the best. 

“K9 as in canine? Oh, that's so lame”, Kelsey said earning her a glare from Imogen.

“He's been in there for a while now, plugging the distortion, and every so often he passes our way”, Sarah Jane said.

“Your best friend's a metal dog with its bum stuck in a black hole?” Kelsey asked.

“Ok that’s it”, Imogen said standing up. She’d just about had enough of this kid. She gently took Kelsey’s arm and led her out of the room, closing the door behind her. “You know you were being a bit rude in there. K9 is more than a pet, he is my best friend and I won’t have anyone saying a bad thing about him, understood?” she said firmly and Kelsey nodded. She was feeling rather uneasy in Imogen’s presence, especially when she was looking at her angrily “come to think of it, it would be best if you just go home”

“Why?” Kelsey asked.

“Why? You don’t believe in aliens even though you saw one with your own two eyes. And you think we’re all barmy. So as far as I’m concerned there’s no reason for you to stay”, Imogen said. As Kelsey turned to go down the stairs, Imogen added “oh and I’ll have that bottle of Bubble Shock in your pocket”.

“Why?” Kelsey asked turning back. She wondered why she wanted it.

“Just give it to me”, Imogen said holding her hand out. Kelsey sighed but gave her the bottle to her anyway. “Thanks”, Imogen said and went back into the attic. The moment she came into the attic with the bottle in her hand, Sarah Jane’s watch started beeping.

“It’s picking up something”, she said pulling up her sleeve and flipping the watch open. Sarah Jane moved around, noticing that the signal grew stronger as she approached Imogen.

“That thing detects alien life”, the Archetype stated “does that mean Imogen’s an alien?”

“No it’s not coming from her. It’s coming from…” Sarah Jane snatched the bottle of Bubble Shock from Imogen’s hand, her device beeping like crazy now “It's the drink. It's that ingredient, Bane”.

The Doctor moved to stand next to her so he could read the results on the device “Species identified, Bane”, he read aloud “It's not just an ingredient, it's an alien! This is the secretion of….a Bane Mother”.

“There is a piece of living Bane inside every bottle of Bubble Shock”, Sarah Jane said looking worried.

 _Oh god, I had some of that!_ Imogen thought feeling rather sick at the revelation that she had a sip of something that contained a piece of living alien.

“I've been drinking that stuff, and it's alien?” came Kelsey’s voice from the doorway.

“I thought you didn't believe in aliens”, Maria reminded her.

“And I thought I told you to go home”, Imogen added.

“Yeah well I was until I heard what he said about Bubble Shock. I've got things from outer space living in my stomach!” Kelsey exclaimed. 

“You’re not the only one who had some”, Imogen mumbled.

“Gen, you didn’t”, the Doctor said in disbelief.

“I’m sorry”, she said quietly “It was only a tiny amount, plus it tasted foul”.

“So you got the two of us with alien stuff in our stomachs. What are you going to do about it?” Kelsey asked “because you’ve got all this stuff…all these gadgets and you sit here talking. What good is that? Why don't you actually do something?” Kelsey demanded.

“All right, Kelsey. Just you watch”, Sarah Jane said rising to the challenge “Mr Smith?” she asked turning to the fireplace where the computer was housed.

“Yes, Sarah Jane?”

“I need you”, Sarah Jane replied. Despite how worried she was over the fact that she’d drunk a little bit of Bane, Imogen still managed to crack a smile as the fireplace opened to reveal Mr Smith. The Doctor had to admit he was a bit impressed with it.

“Mr Smith's a computer”, Sarah said now standing in front of it.

“An alien computer”, Maria said amazed by it.

“Mr Smith, I want a direct visual link to Mrs Wormwood at the Bane factory. Can you get coordinates?” Sarah Jane asked as Kelsey, the Doctor and Imogen moved to stand behind Sarah Jane.

“Accessing”

“What, you can just phone her up?” Maria asked.

“Mr Smith can hack into anything”, Imogen informed her.

“But why do you want to talk to them?” Maria questioned.

“Because I want to be fair”, Sarah Jane replied.

“013457689014658757562987032105-5”, Mr Smith listed off as they appeared on the screen.

“That's like their phone number”, the Doctor murmured.

“Visual link connecting”

“Mrs Wormwood”, Sarah Jane greeted.

“Oh, very clever”, Mrs Wormwood commented, appearing on the screen.

“Thanks for the assassination attempts”

“My pleasure. The next one will involve harpoons”, Mrs Wormwood said.

“I know who you are and what you are. Bane. Now leave this planet”, Sarah Jane ordered.

“Are you declaring war?” Mrs Wormwood asked.

“Mrs Wormwood, the universe is huge, and Earth is so small”, Sarah Jane said “You don't need to do this. I'm asking you, as one species to another, just leave this world. Leave us in peace. Please”. The Doctor smiled, rather proud at how she was handling the situation.

“And if I don't?” Mrs Wormwood challenged.

“Then I'll have to do something”, Sarah Jane replied.

“Very well. In the language of your young ones, bring it on”, Mrs Wormwood said and ended the transmission.


	3. Chapter 3

“Now, that didn't go well”, Sarah Jane said.

“I think it went as well as can be expected mum”, Imogen said “I highly doubted Mrs Wormwood was going to just pack up and leave. Not when she wants Earth so bad”.

“So how're you gonna stop them?” Maria asked Sarah Jane.

“You tell me”, she replied.

“What? Do you mean you haven't got a plan? Nothing?” Maria asked surprised.

“No. The people I fight have plans and weapons, but I don't. It's what makes me different”, Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder “don’t worry, between you, me and Gen we’ll figure something out”, he assured her.

~Laboratory~

“Mother, events have escalated”, Mrs Wormwood said with her fingers on her temples “We must declare war on mankind. Open your mind, Mother. You must convert the humans containing Bane. They will convert the rest. Let this become Bane World!” Mrs Wormwood moved her hands away from her temples and looked up that the ceiling. Two panels slid back to reveal a much larger version of the Bane, the Bane Mother. It looked down at her and blinked, its eye turning orange as it began the process of taking over those who’d ingested Bane.  

~Attic~

Imogen gasped and doubled over. “Mum…help”, she choked out. She wasn’t the only one doubled over, Kelsey was too.

“Help me”, the black girl pleaded.

“Oh my God, it's beginning”, Sarah Jane breathed. The Doctor rushed over to Imogen, grabbing her upper arms.

“Gen you’ve got to fight it”, he urged.

“You too Kelsey”, Sarah Jane added “fight it!”

Kelsey suddenly straightened up, holding out the bottle of Bubble Shock that was in her hand. “Drink it”, she ordered in a monotone voice.

“It's the Bane! They're taking people over!” Maria exclaimed.

“Out! Quickly. Out!” Sarah Jane shouted at them all. Maria and the Archetype ran for the door while Sarah Jane covered them. The Doctor scooped Imogen into his arms and fled the attic, the brunette girl managing to snag an alien communicator on the way out. Sarah Jane ran after them, dodging Kelsey on her way out.

They all piled in the car, Imogen on the Doctor’s lap and Sarah Jane sped off towards the factory. “Keep fighting it Gen”, the Time Lord urged as the girl made small noises of pain, the struggle clear on her face. He knew it was a risk taking her with them but he wasn’t about to leave her behind.

“No giant squid is taking me over”, Imogen managed to say as she continued to fight to stay in control. Her grip tightened on the communicator in her hand.

“That’s my girl”, the Doctor said.

~Outside the factory~

As they neared the factory gates, the Doctor used his sonic to get them open. Sarah Jane drove through, and the Doctor soniced the gate shut.

Sarah Jane pulled up by the Bubble Shock bus and got out. Maria and the Archetype got out the back while the Doctor exited the front passenger seat, gathering Imogen back into his arms. The older Smith tried to use her sonic lipstick on the main factory doors.

“They've got a deadlock seal”, Sarah Jane said, her heart plummeting at this revelation.

“What does that mean?” Maria asked.

“We can't get in”, the Doctor said. They had to get in! They had to stop the Bane in order to save everyone.

“Yes we can”, Imogen said looking over at the bus. The Doctor followed her gaze and grinned.

“Oh, you are brilliant!” he declared.

~Laboratory~

“All the humans who don't submit will be reduced to liquid”, Mrs Wormwood declared looking at a screen “Then Bane will drink them and…what's that noise?” she asked hearing a distant rumbling. Suddenly the Bubble Shock bus smashes through the wall.

“Not too late for the party?” Sarah Jane asked from the driver’s seat.

“Miss Smith”, Mrs Wormwood hissed.

“I warned you. Leave this planet”, Sarah Jane said hopping out of the bus, followed by the Doctor.

“Have you met my mother?” Mrs Wormwood asked pointing up. The Doctor and Sarah Jane look up and gape at the large alien in the ceiling.

“Leave them alone!” Maria shouted rushing out followed by the Archetype.

“I told you to stay on board”, Sarah Jane scolded. She wanted Maria and the Archetype to stay safe and watch over Imogen.

“Too late for that”, Maria said.

“Oh, you've brought us the Archetype”, Mrs Wormwood said looking at the boy.

“He is a living, thinking human being. And you created him. What for?” the Doctor asked.

“He's an assembly of thousands of different humans. A montage, you might say. A collage. On every tour of the factory, we'd scan the guests, all ten thousand of them, and then we fed every strength and every weakness into him. The Archetype”, Mrs Wormwood explained.

“I am everyone”, the Archetype stated.

“But why?” Maria asked.

“The 2% that wouldn't touch Bane”, Mrs Wormwood replied “The Archetype could tell us exactly how to modify our product. But since we've advanced our plans, he is no longer needed”. She activated her ring and the Archetype collapsed in pain.

“No!” Maria cried kneeling down beside him.

“He's only a boy. I'm begging you, let him go”, Sarah Jane pleaded as the Doctor covered the Archetype with his coat.

“Oh, that's so sweet”, Mrs Wormwood said mockingly earning a glare from the Doctor. “But he's dying, and soon you will join him, like all our enemies. Our slave control is activated around the world. The time of man is over. The time of Bane is come”, she declared.

“I don’t think so”, Imogen said. The Doctor, Sarah Jane, Maria and the Archetype glance behind them to see her standing there, looking a lot better.

“And what do you think you, a mere child, can do to stop us?” Mrs Wormwood asked, not seeing her as much of a threat. Big mistake.

“There’s only one thing I can do”, Imogen said moving around the others to stand in front of them “I can use this” she held up the communicator.

“And what is that?” Mrs Wormwood asked.

“It’s a communicator from another world. About a million times more powerful than a piddly mobile phone”, Imogen explained.

“Then it's a good thing you don't know our frequency”, Mrs Wormwood said.

“Actually I do… and so does he”, Imogen nodded to the Archetype.

“Mr Smith said it out loud”, he said.

“But that was dozens of numbers!” Sarah Jane said surprised.

“But I remember them”, the Archetype slowly standing up. Imogen held out the communicator and he took it. “You gave me the memory of ten thousand humans”, he reminded Mrs Wormwood.

“Stop him!” she ordered the workers as the Archetype’s fingers’ flew over the buttons so fast they looked like a blur.

“…757562987032105- 5. Calling the Bane!” the Archetype held up the communicator and a piercing tone fills the area.

“Argh! The Bane Mother! You're killing her!” Mrs Wormwood cried “Archetype, I order you to stop!”

“You can’t order him about. You made him human”, Imogen told her “and he’s ours!” With that she grabbed his hand and ran. Sarah Jane, the Doctor and Maria raced after them, equipment exploding as they went.

The group burst through a fire door and sprinted as fast as they could to get as much distance as possible from the factory.

BOOM!

The place exploded, the force of the blast causing them all to stumble slightly. “Did we stop them?” Maria asked laughing.

“Yeah, we did”, Imogen replied happily.

“Are you all right?” Sarah Jane asked them all.

“Their control has gone, and I'm free!” the Archetype said happy “That's good”.

“Oh yes, that's good”, Sarah Jane said with a smile. She hugged the boy. “I would be dead without you two”, Sarah added pulling back to look at the boy and her daughter “We all would. You're amazing. You too Maria. Amazing!”

“I second that”, the Doctor agreed with a big grin of his own.

“This is happiness, yes?” the Archetype asked.

“Oh, yes”, she replied “We did it!” 

Imogen laughed as the Doctor picked her up bridal style and spun around on the spot. “We did it!” Maria cheered flinging her arms around Sarah Jane and the Archetype. The three laughed, dancing around on the spot in their group hug.

Imogen pressed her lips against the Doctor’s “we did it”, she said happily.

“Yes we did”, he agreed with a smile. He set her down and they went over to the trio, joining in on their group hug/happy dance.

Later…

Maria sat on a wooden chair in Sarah Jane’s garden waiting for the woman in question. Imogen had taken the Archetype to the TARDIS to get him some proper clothing and the Doctor went with her.

The teenager smiled as Sarah Jane walked over carrying a tray with a jug of lemonade 5 glasses. She poured out the drink into the glasses and gave one to Maria.

She picked up another and they clinked their glasses together saying “cheers”

“And it's normal pop”, Maria added.

“Hooray for normal pop”, Sarah Jane said sitting down on the bench “How's your friend, Kelsey?”

“She's back-tracking like mad, saying it was all hallucinations. No such thing as aliens”, Maria replied.

“But we know better”, Sarah Jane pointed out. The pair exchanged smiles. Moments later the Archetype entered the garden in the outfit Imogen had chosen for him. He now looked like an ordinary teenaged boy. The Doctor and Imogen came in just after him.

“Oh, that's more like it”, Maria said approving.

“This is good?” the Archetype asked.

“Yeah”, Maria replied “How are you gonna adopt him, then?” she asked as the Archetype and Imogen sat down on the bench, Sarah Jane handing them both a glass of lemonade. “I mean, you need forms and things. Who are you gonna say his real mum is, the Bane Mother?”

“Mr Smith's sorted that” Sarah Jane showed them official adoption forms “Officially done and dusted. All he needs now is a name”, she said putting the forms down on the table.

“You can choose your own”, Maria said.

The Archetype looked at Imogen “I like yours. Imogen”, he said.

Imogen laughed “I like it too but it’s not really appropriate for a boy. How about Jack?” she suggested “Josh?”

“Nathan?” Maria put in.

“Harry? Alistair? Luke?” Sarah Jane supplied.

“I like Luke”, Maria said.

“I like Luke”, Sarah Jane agreed.

“Me too”, Imogen said, also agreeing.

“If you like Luke, I like Luke”, the Archetype said with a smile.

“You know that was the name I was always going to choose if I ever had a son”, Sarah Jane told them “but I got my Imogen instead” she smiled fondly at her daughter who was sitting the other side of the newly named Luke Smith “and I have no regrets about that”.

“Well, now you’re a mum of two”, Maria said.

“Yes” Sarah Jane looked at both her son and daughter “I am”.

“I’ve always wanted a sibling, now I have one” Imogen putting an arm around Luke.

“I have a mum and a sister”, Luke said “this is good?”

“Yes, it’s _very_ good”, Imogen replied. She looked over to where the Doctor stood, a little ways away “hey” she called getting his attention “Come on over. You’re part of the family too”. She set her glass down on the grass as he came over and intertwined her fingers with his as he came to a stop by the bench, politely declining a glass of lemonade.

“What's that?” Luke asked noticing a light streak across the star studded sky.

“It's just a plane”, Maria replied looking up as well.

“That's a flying machine, right?” Luke asked.

“Perhaps it's a spaceship”, Imogen suggested. Sarah Jane looked up at the stars and couldn’t help but think how lucky she was. She’d started the day off with just a daughter. Now she has a daughter, a son and a new friend.

_I saw amazing things, out there in space. But there's strangeness wherever you turn. Life on Earth can be an adventure, too. You just need to know where to look._


	4. Chapter 4

A week later…

“Imogen, I don’t think I can do this”, Luke said as they neared Park Vale School. It was his first day and naturally he was very nervous. Imogen had decided to walk him to school so she had plenty of time to assure him that everything was going to be ok.

“Of course you can! You’re nervous but that’s perfectly normal”, Imogen assured him “I was nervous on my first day at school too”.

“Really?” Luke asked.

“Really”, Imogen replied “I was so nervous about going that I’d actually tried to barricade myself in my room. Mum actually had to bribe me with a new set of paint brushes to get me to go. When it got to the end of the day, I realised that I’d actually enjoyed my first day and I couldn’t wait to do it all over again! And I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy yourself too Luke. Plus, you’re not alone. You’ve got Maria”.

Luke smiled, finding some comfort in her words. The pair stopped near the school. “Have a good day and either mum or myself will meet you out here about 3:30, ok?” Imogen said.

“Ok. Thanks for the talk Imogen”, Luke said.

“It’s what big sisters are for making little brother’s feel better”, Imogen told him. The teenaged boy smiled again before he headed across the road to the school.

“You need to be careful”, a familiar voice spoke up. Imogen glanced to the side and saw 2nd Naiyah standing there looking at the school “an old enemy is looking for revenge”.

Before Imogen could ask her what, the Time Lady disappeared. _Well… that was a short visit_ she thought _wonder what she mean by that warning?_ Seemed like she had something to think about while she waited for 3:30pm. Imogen turned and walked away, heading back to 13 Bannerman Road.

\-------------------------

Imogen glanced over at her mother and shook her head seeing the woman start to pace again. She’d been doing that for the last hour on and off. “Mum, he’s going to be perfectly fine. Luke’s a smart kid”, Imogen assured her.

“I know he is”, Sarah Jane said “It’s just… what if he gets lost? Or what if he gets picked on? I do hope we’ve taught him enough to get by…”

Imogen set her brush down and went over to her mother, taking her hands forcing her to stop pacing. “Mum. Luke is going to be fine”, she repeated “you, me and the Doctor have taught him everything he could possibly need and more… in the Doctor’s case. Getting lost in a new school is only natural… but I highly doubt he will. And if he does get picked on… well…big sister Imogen will have to do something about that”.

Sarah Jane nodded, relaxing slightly from those words. “You’re right Gen”, she agreed “I just can’t help but worry. I did the exact same thing when you were in Luke’s place. Though I didn’t really have anyone to assure me, not even my husband”.

“Well you have me to assure you and I can promise you right now that I’ll always be here when you need me. I’m not going anywhere”, Imogen promised. She gave her hands a gently squeeze before letting go. Imogen went back to her easel and picked up her paint brush “And I’m most certainly not going to run off with some bimbo half my age”, she added.

Sarah Jane laughed “no, you’ll just run off with your alien boyfriend, who’s several times older than you”, she countered.

“Touché”, Imogen agreed “but that promise still stands, I’ll always be there when you need me. Just give me a ring and I’ll have the Doctor bring me here”.

“You might have to help him with the piloting, if you want to keep that promise. His track record isn’t exactly the best”, Sarah Jane reminded her.

“True. Very true”, Imogen agreed “I’ll have to see if he’ll give me lessons”.

“Fancy a cup of tea?” Sarah Jane asked.

“Sure”, Imogen replied. Sarah Jane nodded and left the room. Imogen continued with the painting she was doing as a surprise for Maria. A little something she could hang on her bedroom wall. _Hopefully she’ll like it_ she thought. It was a recreation of the Carina Nebula but there was also a 3 hidden images within the painting that you could spot only if you looked very carefully. One was the Star Poet, the first alien Maria had seen. The second was of K9 and the third… well let’s just say Imogen couldn’t resist putting it in… was of the TARDIS.

“I wonder what he’s doing?” she murmured. Hopefully keeping himself out of trouble. Imogen shook her head at that thought. The Doctor keeping himself out of trouble? That Time Lord is a trouble magnet!

A minute later the attic door opened and Sarah Jane entered carrying two cups of tea. “Thanks”, Imogen said taking one. She took a sip “what do you think?” she asked nodding to the painting “recon Maria would like it?”

“I’m sure she would love it”, Sarah Jane replied.

~Bannerman Road~

Imogen waited by the front of the house with the finished painting. Sarah Jane had gone off to the school to go pick up Luke. Her mother’s green car pulls up in the driveway at the same time that Maria’s dad, Alan cycled up.

“Oh, I see, you've cadged a lift, have you?” he remarked when Maria got out of the car.

“I offered”, Sarah Jane said.

“I don't know, Lady Muck, getting neighbours to chauffeur her around”, Alan continued with a smile.

“Shut up, Dad”, Maria muttered but she was smiling too.

“Maria I’ve got a little something for you”, Imogen spoke up. She picked up the painting and showed it to the teen.

“That’s for me?” Maria asked looking at the painting in amazement. Both Maria and Alan knew that Imogen was a decent painter as the brunette had helped them decorate their house. Alan had tried to pay her for all her help but Imogen wouldn’t have any of it.

Imogen nodded “yep”, she replied popping the p.

“I love it. Thank you”, Maria said taking the painting from her.

“You’re welcome”, Imogen said.

“Have you ever considered doing commissions?” Alan asked.

“No I haven’t”, Imogen replied honestly “I just do it as a hobby”.

“Well you should”, Alan said “I recon there’s people who’d pay for a Imogen Smith painting”.

“I’ll think about it”, Imogen said.

“How was the big first day, then?” Alan asked turning to his daughter.

“Ok”, Maria replied “A bit weird, though. The headmaster keeps farting”. _Either the headmaster has a stomach problem or he’s a Slitheen in disguise_ Imogen thought she hoped it was the former. Though she couldn’t help but recall Naiyah’s warning about an older enemy. And she _had_ met the Slitheen before.

“Really?” Alan asked sounding interested “What, noisy smelly ones or silent but deadlies?”

“Eugh!” Maria exclaimed.

“What?” Alan asked pretending that he hadn’t said anything disgusting.

“The place stinks like batteries, and the canteen food was off”, Luke added. _Hm… wonder if that means anything…_ Imogen thought.

“I'll make you a proper tea. You go and get changed”, Sarah Jane said.

Luke nodded “See you, Maria”, he said before heading into the house. Imogen excused herself and headed into the house as well. She had some checking to do.

“I want a proper tea too”, Maria said turning to her dad.

“Make it yourself”, Alan countered “You might have a chauffeur, but I'm not your cook”.

“Oh, whatever”, Maria shot back in a joking tone.

“No, forget it, it's all right. We'll phone out for a curry. Can't have you straining yourself after your long voyage home, can we?” Alan asked.

“You think you're so funny”, Maria laughed and she headed off across the road to her house. Sarah Jane couldn’t help but smile at their playful banter. It was similar to the kind of banter she and Imogen would often have. It was also nice to see that Maria had a good relationship with her father. _If only Will had been more like that towards our daughter…_

She shook her head, breaking herself out of her thoughts “Anyway, the school can't be that bad. Imogen used to go there. And they’ve just built this”, Sarah Jane took a newspaper from her bag which she’d picked up before collecting Luke and Maria from the school “Someone donated the money and this technology block was put up. It looks incredible”.

“Hold on. I did an IT job in a school, in a new block that looks like that”, Alan remarked nodding to the picture on the paper.

“Was it built by Coldfire Construction?” Sarah Jane asked.

“Yeah”, Alan replied.

“Where was that?”

“On the other side of town. Saint Cheldons in Upminster”, Alan answered “That place smelt odd. Sort of metallic…” he mused “Anyway, better go. Stop her ordering the entire menu. Bye”. With that he headed off across the road with his bicycle.

Up in the attic Imogen was sitting at the computer staring at the image of the headmaster of Park Vale School. He was plump just like Joseph Green, General Asquith and Margret Blaine had been. _Plump…unable to stop farting…_ Imogen held up her sketchbook which she’d opened onto the page which had the sketch of a Slitheen on it.

“The old enemy”, she breathed.

\-------------------

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok Imogen?” Sarah Jane asked for the third time in the car on the way to Saint Cheldons the next morning. She’d noticed that her daughter had been acting differently yesterday afternoon. She was quieter than normal and she barely ate anything. And then there was the nightmare. Both Sarah Jane and Luke had been disturbed in the early hours of the morning by Imogen screaming. But Imogen refused to tell them anything about the nightmare. She was quite adamant in that fact.

“I’m feeling fine mum, honestly”, Imogen replied.

“You know you can talk to me about anything”, Sarah Jane continued “even about nightmares”.

“I know”, Imogen said “but I really don’t want to talk about it just yet”.

She did feel rather guilty about not telling her mother and Luke about her suspicions on the presence of Slitheen at the school but she had no definite proof other than the headmaster is overweight and keeps farting. Plus if he did turn about to be a Slitheen there is the matter of finding out why they were back on Earth. She didn’t want make any confrontations especially when she had her mother and Luke to think about. Also Maria and her dad.

~St Cheldons Comprehensive school~

“Oh, it's hopeless, Miss Smith, Miss Kieran”, the Headmistress cried as they walked down the stairs of the school “Even worse this term”.

“I believe you had the wiring in your new block re-installed”, Sarah Jane said.

“Didn't do any good. Computers keep crashing”, the Headmistress told them as they reached the bottom of the stairs “And Look at this” she produced a bruised apple from her bag “Fresh this morning! Everything goes off” the woman put the apple back into her bag and continued walking, the 2 Smith’s following “And there's that smell, like batteries”.

“And this all started when you got your new technology block?” Imogen asked and the Headmistress nodded.

“Doesn't anybody care?” Sarah Jane questioned “Hasn't anyone tried to work out what's wrong?”

“One of the parent governors raised it at our meeting”, the Headmistress replied.

“And?” Sarah Jane pressed.

“Fell off his bike the next morning!” the Headmistress answered “Three months in traction. Can't you feel it, Miss Smith? Miss Kieran” she asked “Like a thunderstorm's coming”. At those words Imogen couldn’t help but think back to that little adventure with the Isolus.

_~flashback~_

_Fireworks exploded overhead, lighting up the dark sky in various colours. “You know what? They keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will”, Rose said._

_The Doctor looked at her coming to a halt “Never say never ever”, he warned._

_“Nah, we'll always be okay”, Rose said confidently “us three. Don't you reckon?” she looked at both Imogen and the Doctor who were now looking up at the sky._

_“There's something in the air. Something’s coming”, the Doctor said quietly._

_“What?” Rose asked wondering if she should be worried._

_“A storm” Imogen replied seriously._

_~end~_

That ‘storm’ had caused Rose to be separated from herself and the Doctor forever. She couldn’t lose anyone else. Not her mother. Not Luke. Not the Doctor. No one. If the Slitheen were the culprits behind all of this, they’d have to deal with HER. Imogen looked up and the CCTV camera, Sarah Jane following her gaze.

In an office somewhere, a plump woman looked her computer screen that was displaying the CCTV footage of the mother and daughter with a smile. “Hello, Miss Smith, Miss Kieran”, she said with an evil laugh.

\-----------------------------

After having some lunch at a small café not too far from St Cheldons, Sarah Jane dropped Imogen home, the brunette having said that she wanted to get a little rest. Imogen watched her mother drive away, heading for Coldfire Construction before she stepped out of the house. She went over to her blue car and drove off towards the nearest supermarket. If they were dealing with Slitheen then they were going to need to stock up on vinegar.

~Playground~

“Someone looks happy”, Maria remarked as she and Luke walked “I had double maths this afternoon”.

“Science club was brilliant”, Luke said happily “Mr Jeffrey's really nice. I think we're going to be friends”.

“You don't make friends with a teacher”, Maria said quickly not wanting Luke to get any ideas.

“Why not?” Luke asked.

“You just don't”, Maria replied simply “Anyway, look, Sarah Jane phoned me. She wants us to look inside the new block”.

“What are you doing?” a black boy asked suddenly coming up behind them, putting his arms around their shoulders. It was Clyde Langer, the boy they’d met yesterday.

“We're investigating the new block”, Luke said before Maria could say anything.

“I left something in the new block”, Maria said quickly and walked off.

“What is it with you and her?” Clyde asked as he and Luke watched her go “I've seen weird people. I know weird people. But you two? You're beyond weird”.

“Go find some normal people then”, Luke shot back and walked away after Maria. A smile appeared on his face as he walked. Imogen was going to be proud of him for that as it was her who’d given him advice on how to handle people who made comments like the ones Clyde had just made.

 

~Supermarket~

Imogen pulled into a parking space and got out of the car.

~Tech block~

“That's not right”, Luke muttered as he wandered are the new building. He and Maria decided to split up to check over the building.

“I want answers”, Clyde demanded having managed to catch up with Luke “Where are you from?”

“London”, Luke replied distractedly as he took in the building as he walked “The layout of this building doesn't make any sense”.

“But where have you been all your life?” Clyde asked “You don't know farting's funny. Where was your last school?”

“I've never been to school before”, Luke replied.

“What, your mum and sister taught you at home?” Clyde questioned.

“No. Sarah Jane isn't my mum and Imogen isn’t my sister”, Luke stopped walking “There are sixteen classrooms in this building”.

“Hold on. So what's Sarah Jane and Imogen to you?” Clyde asked.

“They adopted me”, Luke answered.

“Why don't you call Sarah Jane, mum?” Clyde pressed.

“She doesn't want me to”, Luke stated and continued walking “Imogen’s got no problem with me calling her sister though”, he added.

“But what about your real mum and dad?” Clyde asked.

“I haven't got a mum or dad”, Luke replied. He was getting a bit annoyed with all the questions Clyde was asking. Sarah Jane wanted him and Maria to check out the building. How was he supposed to do that if Clyde kept asking him questions?

“Everybody's got a mum and dad. I have a dad, somewhere”, Clyde said.

“This block measures about 1539 M², so double that for both floors….” Luke frowned when he worked out the answer and found that it wasn’t quite right “The area of each room doesn't add up to that. So there's an empty space. Through there” he pointed down the corridor “I think you should go home”.

Clyde quietly scoffed, shaking his head before he followed after Luke. There was something weird going on and he was going to find out what.

~Supermarket~

Imogen wrinkled her nose at the beans as she walked down the aisle, pushing the small trolley in front of her. “Evil beans”, she muttered earning her a look from a shopper. She stopped in another aisle by the vinegar. Imogen regarded the different ones before she selected a brand and put 10 bottles in her trolley. It was a bit excessive but it was better safe than sorry. Imogen stopped by another aisle and picked up some plastic spray bottles.

~Computer science room~

Maria quickly hid under a desk as Mr Jeffrey entered the room. “Who's that? Hello?” Mr Jeffrey called. Maria kept her lips pressed together so she didn’t make a noise. “I know you're in here. I can smell you” he his sniffed loudly “Oh, a little girl, fresh as a Imogen. Sugar and spice and all things nice” he said as he skipped right over to the desk Maria was hiding under. Mr Jeffery smacked his hands on the desk making the frightened girl jump but still she didn’t make a sound “She really shouldn't be hanging around school after home time” Mr Jeffery moved back from the desk “Not when I've got no reason to hide in this stupid skin any longer”.

~Supermarket~

Imogen walked out of the supermarket carrying her bags.

~Computer science room~

“After all, why should I hide?” Mr Jeffery asked. He reached up to his forehead and started to unzip it.

~Supermarket~                                         

Imogen stopped dead a few feet away from her car and gasped, eyes widening. “Maria!” she shouted. The girl ran the last few feet to the vehicle, unlocking it as she went. Imogen dumped her bags on the front passenger seat and then turned on the ignition. She tore out of the car park nearly hitting a vehicle on the way out. But Imogen paid no attention to the blare of a car horn she’d gotten. She was more interested in getting to the school in time.


	5. Chapter 5

~Tech block~

“I've found a secret room”, Luke said as Maria and Clyde ran up to him, having just managed to escape Carl, who turned out to be a small Slitheen.

“Not now!” Maria said more interested in getting out of the building. They rushed to the main doors but they wouldn’t open.

“That thing's real, isn't it?” Luke asked.

“It's real”, Clyde confirmed.

“This place is sealed. You're finished, right here, right now”, Carl’s voice called.

“This way”, Maria said and she ran, darting past Carl. Unfortunately Luke and Clyde aren’t so lucky. They turn and raced up the stairs, Carl chasing after them.

Outside the building Imogen screeched her car to a stop. She tried the doors “locked”, she muttered. The brunette smacked her forehead when she remembered she had a sonic screwdriver. She pulled it out of her pocket and flashed it over the lock, yanking the door open. She did the same for the second set of doors and rushed inside. Imogen’s eyes widened when she saw Luke and an unfamiliar boy cornered by two Slitheen on the upper level.

She frantically looked around for something she could use as she’d forgotten to grab the vinegar in her haste. Imogen’s eyes lit up when she spotted the fire extinguisher. She darted over to it and snatched it up. She ran over to the stairs and crept quietly up them, pulling the pin out as she went.

Imogen stopped near the top and readied the fire extinguisher “Hey ugly!” she called. As expected the Slitheen turned around and she blasted them with CO₂. “Run!” Imogen shouted at the boys.

Luke and Clyde ran past the two Slitheen and headed down the stairs. Imogen lobbed the fire extinguisher as the Slitheen and raced down the stairs. She, Luke and Clyde arrived at the main doors at the same time as Maria did.

Imogen ushered the 3 teens out of the building and soniced the doors shut. She glared at the two Slitheen as they appeared at the door with the headmaster.

“What was that?” Clyde asked as Imogen pocketed her sonic.

“Sonic screwdriver”, Luke replied.

“Oh, of course”, Clyde said as if that explained everything. The four got in the car and Imogen drove off.

“You want to tell me who that is you two?” Imogen asked glancing in the rear-view mirror at Clyde.

“I’m Clyde. Clyde Langer”, Clyde spoke up.

“Oh, you’re _Clyde_. When this is over, you and I are going to have a little chat about how you treat my brother”, Imogen said in a tone which told Clyde there was no way he was getting out of it. “Now, what were you 3 doing at the tech block?”

“Sarah Jane asked us to check it out”, Maria replied.

“Luke you better call her up and tell her what happened”, Imogen said. Luke nodded, got his phone for out from his pocket and called up Sarah Jane.

~Outside number 13~

Imogen pulled up and got out of the car. She and Luke headed inside the house without a word to Maria or Clyde.

“I want answers”, Clyde demanded “I've just been chased by aliens and you aren't even freaking out. Why? Who are you?”

“You've got to go home”, Maria said firmly “Forget this ever happened. Go home”.

“No, I'm part of this now. I want to find out the truth”, Clyde continued.

“Just leave us alone, okay?” Maria ordered. They had more important things to deal with than answering Clyde’s questions.

“The police won't leave you alone when call them and tell them what happened”, Clyde threatened “Show me”.

Maria sighed “Ok”.

~Attic~

“Luke I’m really sorry I didn’t say anything to you or mum”, Imogen said apologetically “I should have done. It was stupid of me to keep quiet”.

“Imogen, its ok. I don’t blame you for not saying anything to us”, Luke said.

“But if I had, you would have been prepared. You were nearly killed today because of me”.

“I’m not sure anything could’ve prepared us for seeing those things”, Luke said “and anyway _you_ saved us”.

“Yeah I did”, Imogen agreed “and I suppose now you’ve seen the Slitheen…”

“Is that what those aliens are?” Luke asked.

Imogen nodded “yes. And now you’ve seen them, it’s only fair that I tell you all I can about them”.  She and Luke sat down on the wooden steps “The Slitheen are a family of scavengers from Raxacoricofallapatorius. The first time I met them they’d gotten into Downing Street by impersonating people of importance. They were trying to destroy the Earth by creating World War Three”.

“How did you stop them?” Luke asked.

“We blew them up with a missile. Well… I say we, it was Mickey who’d done it but it was the Doctor’s crazy plan”, Imogen explained “of course this time around….” she was interrupted when Maria and Clyde entered.

“Right, what's going on in here?” Clyde asked.

“Why did you bring him up here Maria?” Imogen asked standing up.

“He was pretty insistent on wanting to find out the truth”, Maria replied “and if he tells anyone, who's going to believe him?”

“Whoa, wait. I've just had monsters from outer space on my back and no one's going to tell me what's going on”, Clyde said looking between Imogen, Luke and Maria.

“Clyde, shush. We have more important things to do than bringing you up to speed”, Imogen said harshly. “Right, Slitheen are in your school and they’re responsible for the new building built by Coldfire Construction”, she said getting back to the matter at hand “So I’m going to assume they’ve taken over organisation and that they’ve put new buildings up in just more than your school and St Cheldons. But why?”

“I think know” Luke said “There's a hidden room in the school. I saw inside”.

Maria opened her mouth to say something when they all heard Sarah Jane’s voice. “Luke! Gen!”

“We’re up here mum!” Imogen shouted. They all heard Sarah Jane run up the stairs and enter the attic.

“Thank goodness you’re all right”, Sarah Jane said relieved to see them all in one piece. She hugged Luke, Imogen and even Maria. “And you must be Clyde”, she said turning to the boy.

“I am”, Clyde confirmed.

“Nice to meet you. Now go home”, Sarah Jane said. Clyde was a little taken aback by her tone.

“Mum, the aliens are Slitheen”, Imogen told her “I think they’ve taken over Coldfire”.

“They have. I had a run in with the one that was posted there”, Sarah Jane said.

“Oh god. Are you all right?” Imogen asked.

“Yes, I’m fine”, Sarah Jane assured her.

“Luke was just about to tell us what was in the hidden room he’d found at the school”, Maria spoke up.

“I've got a theory. Mr Smith could help”, Luke said.

“Who's that, your dad?” Clyde asked. Everyone just ignored him.

“Mr Smith, I need you”, Sarah Jane said turning to the fireplace where the computer was housed. Clyde stared in disbelief as the fireplace opened up.

“Good afternoon, Sarah Jane”, Mr Smith said in his usual polite tone.

“Oh, yes” Clyde grinned “Is that a computer?”

“Who's that?” Mr Smith asked.

“Nobody”, Sarah Jane said “Mr Smith, Luke would like some help”.

“Certainly. Hello, Luke”

Luke stepped up “Hello, Mr Smith”, he said “Bring up our satellite image of London. Now plot the exact positions of every school put up by Coldfire Construction. Ealing, that's us” he pointed to a section on the satellite image.

“St Cheldon's Comp, Upminster. Schools at Epping, Amersham, Richmond, Morden…” Sarah Jane listed off as they appeared.

“The ends of tube lines”, Clyde said “If I'm allowed to speak”, he added with a bit of sarcasm “This is real. All of it's real. The talking computer's real, the Slitheens are real. Oh, yes”. Again everyone just ignored him.

“Mr Smith, plot the position of every Coldfire building put up in the last eighteen months in the world”, Sarah Jane instructed.

“Accessing”

“Paris…Sydney…Beijing”, Sarah Jane frowned “They're not all capital cities, they're spread out all over the place. They look pretty random”.

Imogen eyes widened “railways”, she breathed “They've all got underground railways”.

“You’re right Imogen”, Sarah Jane agreed “Link them”.

“London, Barcelona, Washington DC, Santiago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, Naples, Paris”, Mr Smith listed off as he linked them up with a red line.

“It’s like a chain”, Imogen murmured “and each site is a link”.

“There's at least one Slitheen at every site”, Luke stated.

“And there are ten cities. Ten sites”, Clyde added “Right, call the army”.

“Oh right, because that always makes things better, doesn't it”, Maria said turning to him.

“It's not your job”, Clyde retorted.

“There's a cleverer way of going about things”, Sarah Jane stated “But what's it all for? What are they doing?” she turned to Imogen “any ‘feelings’?”

Imogen shook her head “I’m afraid not. The only one I had told me Maria was in danger”, she said.

Sarah Jane nodded. She understood that Imogen got those things at seemingly random times. Sometimes she gets a few of them and other times she gets quite a lot. “The secret room, what was in there?” Sarah Jane asked Luke.

“Sarah Jane…Imogen… I've done something really stupid” Luke said, his eyes widening when he realised what he’d done “a really bad social mistake” he turned to face them “I told the Slitheen how to destroy the world”.

\---------------------

“It wasn't working until I gave them the answers”, Luke said finishing his explanation.

“Oh, Luke”, Sarah Jane sighed. She didn’t blame him at all. He’d sincerely thought he was helping at teacher out with a theoretical model.

“The power cut last night was a test run”, Imogen said remembering how everything lost power, including both the sonic screwdriver and the sonic lipstick. Even Sarah Jane’s watch didn’t work and that never lost power.

“But our candles went out and that's not electric”, Maria pointed out.

“When the capacitors are charged up they act as transducers, converting heat and light into electrical energy. That's how the loop works, it's not connected physically”, Mr Smith explained.

“But what has underground railways got to do with that?” Maria asked.

“The system must generate enormous heat. The underground railways must act as a cooling system”, Imogen guessed.

“Oh, I'm glad we sorted that out”, Clyde said. Imogen was really getting quite annoyed with his remarks. It was just like Kelsey all over again.

“People getting ill, food going off, that's the effect of living or working next to the capacitors”, Sarah Jane stated.

“Indeed”, Mr Smith agreed “Even on standby, the transducers would cause cellular decay in organic matter”.

“With this system they can drain every last drop of energy from the Earth”, Luke began.

“And your school is the last link in the chain”, Imogen finished.

“But it needs the whole chain all together to do that?” Maria asked.

“Yeah”, Luke replied.

“We bomb the school?” Clyde asked hopeful.

“If we could get in there, could you destroy the power system safely?” Sarah Jane asked Luke, ignoring Clyde.

“I think so”, Luke answered “If we reset the system, shut it down for just a second. I'd need a cutting tool”.

“What about this?” Imogen asked with a smile holding up her sonic.

“Yeah, and how do we get past the Slitheen?” Maria questioned.

“We bomb them?” Clyde asked and Imogen rolled her eyes.

“Clyde if you can’t make any useful suggestions, don’t say anything at all”, Imogen suggested “better yet, why don’t you just go home?”

“Sarah Jane, Imogen, I've just picked up this report on an American news channel”, Mr Smith spoke up gaining the attention of mother and daughter.

_“Breaking news. There's a massive loss of power on the west coast of North America. Los Angeles has gone dark”_

“It's starting”, Sarah Jane breathed staring at the large screen.

“And I told them how to do it. The day I was born I saved the world. Now I've helped to destroy it”, Luke said. Imogen put a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“Anybody could have made that mistake Luke”, she said softly.

“No, only he could”, Clyde said.

“Clyde!” Maria cried.

“Well, duh. Let's have a High School Musical moment. A group hug'll sort everything out”

“You’re going to right way for a slap”, Imogen warned giving him a look.

_“And the power loss is spreading westwards. China is now without power, and it may be only a matter of time before the effect spreads here. Oh…”_

The news report abruptly cut off.

“I have lost the signal”, Mr Smith reported.

“We need to find out everything we can on the Slitheen”, Sarah Jane stated “specifically their weaknesses”.

“I know that one”, Imogen said. She crossed the room to the doorway where she’d dumped her shopping bags and pulled out a bottle of vinegar.

“Vinegar?” Clyde asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep”, Imogen said popping the p “throw this at a Slitheen and say bye bye” she tossed the bottle up into the air and caught it “I’ve also got these too”, she added producing plastic spray bottles.

“Brilliant Gen!” Sarah Jane cheered.

“Well…” Imogen drawled mimicking the Doctor, getting a laugh from her mother. Suddenly the power went out.

“That’s gonna complicate things”, Sarah Jane remarked. They needed the sonic screwdriver and or lipstick to gain access to the machinery to reset it.

“It's real. The end of the world, thanks to him”, Clyde said giving Luke a look.

“Will you shut up”, Maria snapped.

“We can still stop the Slitheen”, Imogen said firmly. Just because the sonics weren’t working didn’t mean she was going to give up. “Empty the vinegar into these bottles”, she instructed dumping out the contents of her shopping bags out onto the floor.

“The car's not going to start. How do we get back to school?” Maria asked as they poured the vinegar into the bottles.

“We run”, Imogen said with a grin.

\-------------------------

As soon as all the vinegar was put into the bottles, the group left the house and started to run.

“Right, so all this fighting aliens stuff, you've been doing it for years?” Clyde asked “is it like…a family business?”

“Not now, Clyde”, Imogen waved him off.

“What, did you actually go up to the career guy at school and say, I want to defend the planet from alien invaders?” Clyde continued.

“Not exactly”, Sarah Jane said.

“What happened? How did it start?” the boy asked.

“It's a long story. If we survive, I'll be happy to tell you”, Sarah Jane said quickly. The five of them stopped when it started going dark. They glanced up at the sun and saw it had turned blue.

“What's going on? Clyde asked.

“It's transduction, like the candles”, Luke explained.

“They've switched off the sun!” Maria exclaimed.

“Prisoner zero will vacate the human residence”, Imogen muttered under her breath as she stared up the sun. No one else had heard her otherwise they would have given her puzzled looks.

“They're draining its power”, Sarah Jane added.

“It's getting cold”, Maria shivered.

“We've got about thirty two and a half minutes”, Luke informed them.

“Everyone's gonna die!”

“No they won’t Clyde”, Imogen said “WE will stop them”.

“What, the 5 of us with vinegar in plastic squeezies?” Clyde asked her.

“Yes, the 5 of us with vinegar in plastic squeezies”, Imogen repeated “now, Allonsy!” she cried and started to run again. Sarah Jane, Maria, Clyde and Luke chased after her.

~Control room~

Carl spots the group on the CCTV outside the Tech block. “Daddy, that evil girl has come back!” he cried.

“So what? She's just a child with a funny screwdriver. And she won’t be able to best us the same way again, my boy”, Blakeman assured him.

“My hunt!” Carl hopped up and down.

Blakeman shook his head “I think an adult'd better deal with them this time”, he said before reaching up to his forehead and unzipped it.

~Tech block~

“They just let us walk in here”, Clyde remarked as both sets of double doors opened easily.

“They _want_ us here”, Luke added.

“Well that’s considerate of them as we want to be in here”, Imogen said cheerfully.

“The secret room?” Sarah Jane asked turning to Luke.

“It's this way”, Luke said. They started off in the direction he pointed but stopped when Blakeman spoke up.

“Oh, human children” they all turned and saw him standing there in his Slitheen form “The stench of Haribo and chicken nuggets”.

“Get off this planet”, Sarah Jane demanded pushing Maria, Luke and Clyde behind herself and Imogen.

“Hush now. It's time to hunt”, he said walking towards them “The hunt is an instinct with us. The only way to keep our food safe in the days when the Baaraddelskelliumfatrexius beasts wandered the plains of Raxacoricofallapatorius”.

“The what?” Clyde asked.

“They’re kind of like giant squirrels”, Imogen replied.

“Oh, you are a smart one aren’t you?” Blakeman commented “We killed them all centuries ago, but the hunting instinct remains”, he explained before he lunged at them.

“Now!” Sarah Jane shouted. Maria stepped out from behind Imogen and sprayed Blakeman. Clyde did the same causing Blakeman to stumble back.

“Didn't like that, did you?” Clyde asked.

“Vinegar. Get back”, Maria warned.

“Sarah Jane, Imogen this way”, Luke said.

“Maria?” Imogen said as Luke led Sarah Jane away.

“It's working. We're doing our bit, you do yours”, Maria said not taking her eyes off Blakeman.

“Ok”, Imogen said. She pulled out the plastic spray bottle of vinegar from her shoulder bag and set it down by the wall. She then hurried after her mother and brother.

Imogen managed to catch up to them as Luke and Sarah Jane reached the wall where the entrance to the secret room was. “In here”, Luke said pressing his hand on a section of the wall, making it slide back. They entered the room and were immediately grabbed by a Slitheen in a human disguise. Luke by a black man; Sarah Jane by Janine and Imogen by a plump man with glasses.

“Behold, the capacitor”, Jeffrey said “We drain the energy into these and store it. In ten minutes this planet's atmosphere gets snatched away, but we'll be safe and warm in here”.

“And then a spacecraft picks us up and we sell everything we've collected”, Janine added.

“Why are you doing this?” Sarah Jane asked as the black man moved over to the controls, taking Luke with him.

“The Family came here once before, just a routine job, but they never came back!” Janine answered.

“That was my friend”, Imogen said “he doesn’t take kindly to those who try to destroy the Earth and neither do I!”

“They were our Family!” Jeffrey cried “This planet is going to pay in blood”.

“Luke and Imogen are my family!” Sarah Jane exclaimed.

“This will give us a new beginning”, Jeffrey continued “my son won't have to live like I've had to, cringing in the darkness”. He put his arm around his son.

“I want my son and daughter to live, to grow up. I want what's best for them”, Sarah Jane countered.

“Your stupid son gave us what we needed”, Jeffery spat.

“I didn't!” Luke shouted.

“What?” Jeffrey asked.

“I thought I did, but I didn't. You made the mistake. When you showed me the diagram, you didn't tell me that you was going to steal power from the sun”, Luke quickly explained “It'll explode!”

“It's a bluff”, Janine scoffed.

“What's a bluff?” Luke asked confused.

“Florm?” Jeffrey asked Janine.

The woman shrugged “Well…the boy might be right”, she said sounding unsure.

Parts of the machinery exploded with a bang. “It's happening! Turn it off!” Imogen ordered.

“You heard her, turn it off”, Clyde said bursting in the room with Maria “There’s vinegar in this!” he held up the orange plastic spray bottle. Janine shoved Sarah Jane over to Jeffrey and grabbed Clyde, knocking the spray bottle out of his hand.

“Water. That's a bluff”, she said.

“I knew that wouldn't work”, Maria told Clyde as she too was grabbed by a blonde woman.

“If I reset the system, you can cancel the overload, make it safe?” Jeffery asked Luke.

Luke nodded “Yes”, he confirmed. He locked eyes with Imogen, trying to convey a silent message. Imogen gave him a small smile to tell him she understood what he was trying to convey.

“Right. Son, reset the system”, Jeffrey told Carl. The young Slitheen pushed a big lever upwards. Outside the sun turns back to normal.

“It's reset. The systems off”, Luke said as Imogen slowly reached into her pocket, pulling out her sonic “Now I just have to synchronise the mega-wattage….Now!”

Imogen, Sarah Jane, Maria and Clyde suddenly freed themselves from their captors. “Luke heads up!” Imogen called before she threw her sonic to him. Luke caught it easily and ran. A couple of Slitheen chased after him, Imogen hot on their heels.

“Leave him alone!” she shouted snatching up a piece of pipe, whacking Jeffrey hard on the back. This move got Jeffrey to have his attention on her which gave Luke the chance to use the sonic on the machinery, cutting the wires. The machines started going critical.

Due to this most of the Slitheen beamed themselves away. Luke, Imogen, Sarah Jane, Maria and Clyde sprinted out of the room. Jeffrey and Carl hurried after them but the door slid shut, trapping them.

“You can't leave us in here!” Jeffrey cried “Use your sonic device, open the door. Open the door!”

“I'm only 12!” Carl added. Despite him being a Slitheen and the fact that he’d tried to kill her brother earlier that day, Imogen’s heart went out for him. He was just a kid.

“He's my son. Please, let him live”, Jeffery pleaded.

“Luke”, Imogen said holding out her hand for the sonic. Luke gave it to her but before she could act, Jeffery was disintegrated and then Carl exploded. The door closes and the lights come back on.

“It burnt itself out”, Luke said.

“We did it!” Clyde added happily.

“He was a child, 12 years old”, Sarah Jane said quietly.

“It was them or us”, Clyde told her. Imogen said nothing, she just stared at the door, the sonic loose in her hand. If only she’d been quicker… she might’ve at the very least saved the young Slitheen.


	6. Chapter 6

“Imogen  I'm bored”, the Doctor almost whined as he flopped down on the other end of the sofa.

The brunette lowered her sketch pad slightly and looked at him incredulously “you have a humongous ship and the whole of time and space at your fingertips", she stated “And you're bored. How is that possible?”

“I don't have you to keep me company”, the Doctor replied. 

Imogen  set down a sketch pad “I've already told you. I wanted to have a relaxing day today", she reminded him. After the whirlwind of trips which included the first anti-grav Olympics, a visit to the Louvre and a first date in Venice. Well, it would’ve been a first date if they hadn’t met Casanova who proceeded to flirt with Imogen. But the brunette being who she was, quickly saw him straight. She slapped the womaniser across the face before she proceeded to kiss the Doctor in front of him.

“Well we could have a relaxing day together”, the Doctor suggested.

“You? Relax?” Imogen  laughed. 

“I could do"

“You'll manage all of two minutes before you go stir crazy. If we were at mum's house, you'd probably do the housework; paint the fence and see how many times you could bounce a football on your knee" Imogen  shook her head “I love you Doctor but even I know you're not one for relaxing”. She lifted up her sketch pad to start drawing again when it was suddenly snatched from her. “Hey!” she protested. Imogen  tried to get it back but the Doctor just sat there holding it high above his head.

Then an idea struck the violet eyed girl. She slid onto his lap and kissed him. The Doctor though surprised, didn't hesitate to kiss her back. As they did so, Imogen ’s arm reached up and plucked her sketch pad from the Time Lord's grip. She hopped off his lap and danced backwards with a triumphant grin on her face waving her sketch pad as she did so.

 _So that's how you want to play it?_ The Doctor thought. Well two can that game. He stood up and walked slowly towards her. Imogen ’s eyes widened realising that he was going to get her back for that. So she did the best thing she could do. She ran.

Imogen  darted along corridors, turning this way and that hoping to lose the Doctor. She yelped when a pair of arms suddenly grabbed her from behind. “Gotcha”, the Doctor said in her ear.

“So you have”, Imogen  said calmly although her heart was racing “What are you going to do?” 

“This", the Doctor relied and in one swift move, he'd spun her around and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss started off fairly innocent but quickly heated up when Imogen  allowed his tongue entrance to her mouth. As their tongues wrestled for dominance, the Doctor picked her up, Imogen ’s legs wrapping around his waist. This was so different from all the other kisses. It was more intense...more passionate… Imogen didn't want it to end.

Unfortunately, air was becoming a bit of an issue so the brunette regretfully had to break away. “Sorry I just need a breather", she panted. 

“No need to apologise”, the Doctor said breathing a little heavily himself. They'd lasted a lot longer than expected considering that only one of them had a binary vascular system. “but I think I now know what I want to do, if you’re up for it", he continued giving her a look which caused Imogen  to blush.

“Absolutely”, she agreed. The Doctor grinned at her and instead of setting her down, he shifted her in his arms so he was now carrying her bridal style. He then walked down the corridor for a room that was far more comfortable for what he wanted to do.

\-------

Some time later, the Doctor and Imogen  were laying on her bed, snuggled up together. The Time Lord was just in his shirt, with a couple of buttons undone, and trousers, hair sticking up all over the place. Imogen ’s dress was just as rumpled as his clothes. She too had a couple of buttons on her red dress undone. Though her hair wasn't sticking up like the Doctor's, it did resemble bed hair, not like the brunette cared.

While it had only been a rather _heated_ make out session, it had left the both of them rather happy. And they felt as though it had brought them a little closer together.

“You know, this isn’t exactly going slow", Imogen  remarked after a moment.  

“Sorry”, the Doctor said “we can go slow from here on out”.

“Actually, I was going to say I don’t mind picking up things a little bit as long as we don’t lose what we already have”, Imogen said.

“We won’t”, the Doctor promised. He liked what they had going on. He didn’t want to lose it either by going too fast, he just kinda got caught up in the moment. “So, can we do this more often?” he asked half, hopeful.

Imogen looked up at him and smiled “definitely”, she replied. The Doctor returned her smile and kissed her softly.   


\-----

The next day, the pair were planning to have another day of relaxation when something popped up on the TARDIS scanner. “Now that's interesting”, the Doctor remarked when he took a look.

“What is it?” Imogen  asked moving around to his side to have a look at the scanner as well.

“Plasma coils", the Doctor replied “they're around Royal Hope Hospital”.

“Hm…that’s interesting”, Imogen remarked “we gonna investigate?”

 “Yep”, the Doctor said popping the p “Hang on!”

 Imogen barely had time to grab hold of the console before the Doctor sent the TARDIS hurtling through the time vortex towards modern day Earth and the Royal Hope Hospital.

\-----------------------

“You ready for this?” Imogen asked the Doctor as they heard Mr Stoker approach talking away, presumably to the trainee doctors who were here to ‘examine’ the Doctor. One of the nurses had come around earlier and had asked if the Doctor would consent to it and he agreed.

In order to investigate the plasma coils, the Doctor decided to pretend to be a patient while Imogen played his concerned wife. In the brunette’s opinion, he’d put on such a performance that if she didn’t know he was faking, she would have believed he was really ill. Of course she had no sympathy for him when he had to endure all sorts of tests and get poked and prodded by doctors. He was the one who’d been pretty insistent that he be the patient. So Imogen let him.

“Yep”, the Doctor replied. Imogen reached across and placed a hand over his like she was trying to comfort him. Less than a minute later, the curtain was drawn back revealing Mr Stoker and the trainee doctors.

One of the trainee doctors caught Imogen’s eye, a young black woman. She looked awfully familiar to her like she’d seen her before. But she couldn’t remember where. _It’ll come to me later_ she thought not wanting to dwell on it.

“Now then, Mr Smith, a very good morning to you. How are you today?” Mr Stoker asked.

“Oh, not so bad. Still a bit, you know” the Doctor shrugged “blah”.

“John Smith, admitted yesterday by his wife Imogen, with severe abdominal pains”, Mr Stoker explained “Jones, why don't you see what you can find?” he asked “Amaze me”.

“You know that was a very cryptic message you gave me this morning Mrs Smith", Martha remarked as she stepped up.

“I'm sorry?” Imogen  asked, confused.

“You told me to ‘use my eyes, notice everything because it might just save your life or the life of someone else’"

“You sure I said that?” Imogen  questioned still rather confused. How could she have said that to Martha that morning? She'd been sitting by the Doctor's bed pretending to be his wife.

“Pretty sure. She looked exactly like you right down to your eyes and that locket" Martha nodded it the item in question.

“I assure you I was here. Ask my husband. I haven't left his side”, Imogen  said.

“She has been right here this whole time”, the Doctor confirmed “didn't want to leave me alone". He gave Imogen  a loving smile and squeezed her hand “that's my wife.  Always looking after me"

“Well if it wasn't you then do you have a twin? Because she looked _exactly_ like you", Martha insisted.

“No I don't have a twin. Don't have a sister. Just a little brother called Luke", Imogen  informed her.

“As time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones”, Mr Stoker cut in wanting to get back to the matter at hand which was teaching the trainee doctors.

“Sorry”, Martha said apologetically “Right”. She put her stethoscope in her ears and placed the metal disk on the Doctor’s chest. Martha frowned hearing something odd and moved the stethoscope to the other side of his chest. She looked up, stunned. The Doctor winked at her and Imogen gave her a knowing smile.

“I weep for future generations”, Mr Stoker sighed “Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?”

“Um…I don't know. Stomach cramps?” Martha guessed.

“That is a _symptom_ , not a _diagnosis_. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart” Mr Stoker picked it up from where it hung at the end of the bed, he promptly dropped it when he got an electric shock from the metal clip.

“That happened to me this morning”, Martha spoke up.

“I had the same thing on the door handle”, Morgenstern added.

“And me, on the lift”, Swales put in.

“That's only to be expected”, Mr Stoker said waving it off “There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by. Anyone?”

“Benjamin Franklin”, Imogen answered.

“Correct”, Mr Stoker nodded.

“My mate, Ben. That was a day and a half”, the Doctor said as he reminisced “I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked...”

“Quite….” Mr Stoker nodded slowly, eyeing the Doctor slightly concerned.

“Would’ve gotten electrocuted if Imogen hadn’t pulled me away before the lightning struck the kite”, the Doctor continued “she’s brilliant like that”.

“My husband has got…a very active imagination”, Imogen said patting the Doctor’s hand giving Mr Stoker a look “bless him”.

“Moving on”, Mr Stoker said. He turned and walked away, the trainee doctors following him “I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric”, he added quietly to one of them.

“Right! I think I’ve had enough lying about”, the Doctor said.

“Time to do some investigating?” Imogen asked.

“Yep”, the Doctor replied popping the p.

\------------------------

“Any feelings?” the Doctor asked as they walked down one of the hospital halls.

Imogen  shook her head “sorry, not yet”, she said.

“That’s ok”, the Doctor said. He knew that Imogen ’s ‘feelings’ came at seemingly random times. She couldn't control when she had them and she couldn't force one to happen. They just happened whenever and wherever they want. But it didn’t hurt to ask though. They walked past an open door, glancing in to see Martha talking on the phone.

Imogen frowned after they passed. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen Martha before. Then she noticed the rain. “Gen? What’s wrong?” the Doctor asked as she stopped and walked quickly back to the window, staring out.

“The rain…it’s going up”, she stated. That had the Doctor quickly joining her at the window. Suddenly the building shook, violently. Both the Doctor and Imogen were thrown to the floor.

“Are you all right?” he asked when the shaking stopped.

“Yeah, I think so”, Imogen replied “what the hell was that?” she asked “and why was the rain going up?”

“That was a H₂O scoop”, the Doctor answered “we’ve been transported”. He stood up and helped Imogen to her feet.

“Transported? Where?” Imogen asked.

“Uh…the moon”, the Doctor said nodding to the window. Imogen spun around and saw that he was right.

“Well… I didn’t see that coming”, Imogen remarked “we better get back to the ward. Unless you wanna carry on investigating in your jim jams”. The Doctor nodded and they hurried back to the ward.

~ward~

They arrived at the ward to a fair bit of chaos. Patients were out of bed and looking very worried. Imogen didn’t blame them. They were on the moon! The pair stopped by the Doctor’s bed where Imogen drew the curtains to give the Time Lord privacy while he changed.

As she stood off to the side watching the patients, Martha and Swales entered. “All right now, everyone back to bed, we've got an emergency but we'll sort it out. Don't worry”, Martha said. Imogen was rather amazed about how calm she was being, rather remarkable considering the circumstances.

“Don't! We'll lose all the air”, Swales exclaimed as Martha reached for the window lock.

“But they're not exactly air tight”, Martha told her “If the air was going to get sucked out it would have happened straight away, but it didn't. So how come?”

“That’s a very good point”, Imogen spoke up “What was your name?”

“Martha”, Martha replied.

“And Jones, right?” Imogen asked as the Doctor drew the curtain back. 

“That’s right”, Martha confirmed.

“Well then, Martha Jones, the question is, how are we still breathing?” the Doctor asked.

“We can't be!” Swales wept.

“Obviously we are, so don't waste my time”, the Doctor said. Imogen lightly smacked him on the arm.

“Rude and not ginger, Mr Smith”, she said.

“It’s a lethal combination Mrs Smith”, the Doctor countered giving her a wink. He turned to Martha “Martha, what have we got?” he asked “Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda, or….”

“By the patients' lounge, yeah”, Martha answered.

“Fancy going out?” the Doctor asked.

“Ok”

“We might die”, the Doctor warned.

“We might not”, Martha countered.

“I like you Martha”, Imogen said “Come on”. She linked arms with Martha and led her out of the room. The Doctor followed them, leaving a sniffling Swales behind.

~Patients' lounge balcony~

Martha pushed open the doors to the balcony, stepped out and took a deep breath. “We've got air”, she said happily “How does that work?”

“Just be glad it does”, the Doctor replied stepping up next to her.

“I've got a party tonight”, Martha murmured staring at the stars and the Earth “It's my brother's twenty first. My mother's going to be really…really…” Imogen put an arm around the young woman.

“You ok Martha?” she asked softly.

“Yeah”, she replied.

“Want to go back in?” the Doctor asked.

“No way”, Martha shook her head, eyes fixed on the Earth “I mean, we could die any minute, but all the same….it's beautiful”.

“Do you think?” the Doctor asked eying the planet. _I’ve seen better_ he thought, his gaze shifting over to Imogen.

“How many people want to go to the moon?” Martha continued “And here we are!”

“Standing in the Earthlight”, the Doctor said.

“What do you think happened?” Martha asked them.

“What do you think Martha?” Imogen questioned wondering what her views were on the matter.

“Extraterrestrial. It's _got_ to be”, Martha replied “I don't know, a few years ago that would have sounded…mad, but _these_ days? That spaceship flying into Big Ben, Christmas, those Cybermen things. I had a cousin. Adeola. She worked at Canary Wharf. She never came home”.

Imogen’s eyes widened. Now she knew why Martha looked so familiar! She had a ‘vision’ of the woman when she looked at her cousin Adeola. She wasn’t sure why it didn’t occur to her sooner though. “I'm sorry”, she said quietly.

“Yeah”

“We was there, in the battle”, the Doctor added.

“I promise you, Mr Smith, Mrs Smith, we will find a way out”, Martha assured them “If we can travel to the moon, then we can travel back. There's got to be a way”.

“It's not Smith. That's not my real name”, the Doctor said.

“Who are you, then?” Martha asked.

“I’m the Doctor”, the Doctor replied.

“Me too, if I can pass my exams”, Martha said “What is it then, Doctor and Mrs Smith?”

“Just the Doctor”, the Doctor repeated.

“And my name really is Imogen Smith. It’s just that I’m a Miss, not a Mrs”, Imogen added. Martha nodded, seeming to understand that.

“How does he mean, just the Doctor?” she asked Imogen hoping that the brunette would give her a bit more of an answer.

“That’s his name: the Doctor”, Imogen replied.

“What, people call him the Doctor?” Martha asked her.

“Yes”, Imogen answered.

“Well, I'm not. As far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title”, Martha said.

“Well…I guess I better make a start, then. Let's have a look” the Doctor picked up a pebble “There must be some sort of…” he threw the pebble and it hit some sort of wall and bounced off. 

“There’s a forcefield keeping the air in”, Imogen stated.

“But if that's like a bubble sealing us in, that means this is the only air we've got”, Martha realised “What happens when it runs out?”

“How many people in this hospital?” the Doctor asked her.

“I don't know. A 1,000?” Martha guessed.

“1,000 people. Suffocating”, the Doctor murmured as Imogen looked up.

“Why would anyone do that?” Martha asked.

“You can ask them yourself”, Imogen replied. A loud rumbling sounded causing the Doctor and Martha to look up too. 3 large column shaped ships flew overhead. The ships landed not too far from the hospital and several lines of armoured figures march out.

“Those are aliens. Real proper aliens”, Martha said staring at them.

“Judoon”, the Doctor said. He knew what they were and that it was bad for him.

\------------------

The trio watched the Judoon enter the hospital from where they hid behind the plants. “Oh they’ve got a shop. I like a little shop”, the Doctor said spotting it.

“What is it with you and little shops?” Imogen asked “and why did you seem so disappointed when they didn’t have on at that hospital on New Earth?”

Before the Doctor could reply, Martha spoke “Never mind that! What are Judoon?”

“Galactic police. Well police for hire. More like interplanetary thugs”, Imogen replied.

“And _they_ brought us to the moon”, Martha guessed.

“Neutral territory. According to galactic law, they’ve got no jurisdiction over the earth”, the Doctor told her.

“If they’re the police, are we under arrest for trespassing on the moon?” Martha joked.

“No. But I like that Martha”, the Doctor said “No, it’s simpler than that. They’re making a catalogue which means they’re after something non-human, which is very bad news for me”.

“Why?” Martha asked and the Doctor and Imogen just looked at her. “Oh you’re kidding me”, she said guessing that this ‘Doctor’ wasn’t human.

“Doctor we need to move”, Imogen said and he nodded in agreement. 


	7. Chapter 7

“They’ve reached the third floor”, Martha said coming into the room. “What is that thing?” she asked seeing the weird tube instrument the Doctor was using on the computer.

“Sonic screwdriver”, the Doctor replied.

“Well if you’re not going to answer me properly”, Martha said.

“No, really. It’s a screwdriver and it’s sonic. Look”, he said showing her the instrument and turning it on. The blue tip light up and it made a whirring noise.

“I suppose you’ve got one too”, Martha said looking at Imogen. She wasn’t really being serious but she was surprised when the brunette produced a similar looking item from her own pocket.

“What else you’ve got? A laser spanner?” Martha joked.

“It was stolen by Emily Pankhurst”, Imogen replied. She was actually rather relieved when Emily had pinched it as the laser spanner had been giving her a bad feeling every time she looked at it. Martha opened her mouth to say something when the Doctor smacked the top of the computer.

“Oh, this computer! The Judoon must have locked it down”, the Doctor grumbled running his hands through his hair “Judoon platoon upon the moon”, he muttered. Imogen stiffened realising that he’d just repeated the little comment she had made word for word.

Having come to the same realisation, the Doctor glanced up at her with a ‘you and your feelings’ look. She responded with a defensive look. How on earth was she supposed to know that the random comment she made on New Earth was a ‘feeling’? It did make her wonder though, about the other comments she’d made. Will they be said at some point in the future?

“‘Cause we was just travelling past. I swear, just wandering”, the Doctor started to explain quickly “I wasn't looking for trouble, honestly, I wasn't. But I noticed these plasma coils around the hospital, and that lightning, that's a plasma coil. Been building up for two days now, so I checked in as a patient. We thought something was going on inside…”

“Turns out the plasma coils were the _Judoon_ up above”, Imogen finished.

“But what were they looking for?” Martha asked.

“Something that looks human, but isn't”, Imogen replied.

“Like you, apparently”, Martha said to the Doctor, still not believing that the blue suited man was an alien.

“Like me. But not me”

“Haven't they got a photo?” Martha questioned.

“They wouldn’t need to ‘catalogue’ everyone if they did”, Imogen said “unless it can change his or her appearance… is that possible Doctor?”

“Yeah, it’s entirely possible”, the Doctor answered.

“Whatever it is, can't you just leave the Judoon to find it?” Martha asked.

“If they declare the hospital guilty of harbouring a fugitive, they'll sentence it to execution”, the Doctor told her.

“All of us?” Martha gasped.

“Oh yes. If we can find this thing _first_ ….” He frowned as the computer bleeped “Oh!” he smacked it “You see, they're thick! Judoon are thick! They are completely thick! They wiped the records”, the Doctor ran a hand through his hair causing his hair to stick up even more “Oh, that's clever”.

“What are we looking for?” Martha asked him.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied “Say, any patient admitted in the past week with unusual symptoms. Maybe there's a back-up”.

“Looks that’s where I come in”, Imogen said giving the Doctor a nudge. He got up from the chair and Imogen sat down. She turned her sonic on and started to use it on the computer.  

“Just keep working. I'll go ask Mister Stoker. He might know”, Martha said and with that she left.

“So… your random comment wasn’t quite so random after all”, the Doctor said after a moment.

“Seems that way”, Imogen agreed tapping on the keyboard. She frowned at what was on the screen and continued to use her sonic on the computer. “There’s something I haven’t told you…” she trailed off, her eyes widening “Martha!” she shouted jumping up from the chair. Imogen ran out of the room, the Doctor quickly following her.

They ran into Martha as they rounded a corner. Imogen grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway just as two leather clad people showed up. The trio ran along the hallway, Imogen in the lead.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Martha asked, clinging onto Imogen’s hand as they turned this way and that, all the while one of the leather clad men was chasing after them.

“Yes, I do… sort of”, Imogen replied. She didn’t know specifically where she was going, but she had a feeling wherever they were going to end up was going to help them defeat their pursuer.  The 3 of them burst into the radiology room, the Doctor slamming the door shut and locking it with the sonic.

“Oh you are brilliant!” he said seeing where Imogen had led them to.

“meh”, Imogen said with a shrug. She wouldn’t call herself brilliant, just lucky to get these seemingly random but highly useful ‘feelings’  “right, Doctor you know what to do”, she added “just give us the signal”. She led Martha behind the radiation screen and pulled out the operator’s manual.

“That’s the one!” Martha said jabbing her finger one of the pages when she spotted the right button as Imogen flicked through the manual.

There was a huge crash as the door was bashed in. “Now!” the Doctor shouted and Imogen slammed her hand on the yellow button. The room is flooded with radiation and the leather clad man fell down.

“What did you do?” Martha asked not moving out from behind the screen. Imogen on the other hand, pressed another button, turning the machine off.

“Increased the radiation by 5,000%. Killed him dead”, the Doctor explained.

“Isn’t that likely to kill you?” Martha asked.

The Doctor shook his head “Nah its only radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It’s safe for you both to come out. I’ve absorbed it all”, the Doctor said and the two women stepped out from behind the shielding “All I need to do is expel it” he started to bounce on the spot “If I concentrate I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left shoe. Here we go, here we go. Easy does it…” Imogen and Martha watched him shake his left foot all the while hopping on his right “Out, out, out, out, out. Out, out. Ah, ah, ah, ah! It is…it is…it is…it is…it is hot! Hold on” the Doctor pulled off his shoe and threw it in the nearby dustbin “Done”.

“You’re complelety mad”, Martha said while Imogen shook her head at his antics. She couldn’t help but agree with her, he was completely mad. But she loved him for it.

“Right. I look daft with one shoe”, the Doctor said before he pulled off his other shoe “bare foot on the moon!”

“So what is that thing?” Martha asked crouching down beside the leather clad man. The Doctor crouched next to her while Imogen went to the machine.

“It’s a Slab. They’re called Slabs. Basic slave drones”, the Time Lord explained. Imogen pulled out the sonic from the x-ray machine and looked dismayed at it as it was completely burnt out. _Oh boy… he’s not gonna be happy_ she thought.

“Um Doctor…”

The Doctor looked up and saw his beloved sonic was damaged. “My sonic screwdriver!”

“I’m sorry”, Imogen said when he stood up and took it from her.

“Gen I loved my sonic screwdriver!”

“I know you did. I’m pretty sure the TARDIS can make you a new one”, Imogen assured him.

“Doctor! Imogen!” Martha shouted fed up of trying to tell them what she found.

“Sorry”, the Doctor said tossing his sonic behind him “you called me Doctor”, he added beaming.

“Anyway. Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr Stoker’s blood”, Martha said.

“Funny time to take a snack, the Doctor remarked “You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless… no! Yes, that's it! Wait a minute…yes! Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood…”

“She was assimilating it!” Imogen said realising it the same time as the Doctor did.

“If she can assimilate Mister Stoker's blood, mimic the biology, she'll register as human”, the Doctor continued, Imogen nodding along “We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!”

They started to run again.

\----------------------------

The Doctor, Imogen and Martha hid by the water cooler watching another Slab walk by. “That’s the thing about Slabs. They always come in pairs”, the Doctor muttered.

“What about you?” Martha asked.

“What about me what?” the Doctor asked confused.

“Haven’t you got back up? I know Imogen isn’t your wife but is she your partner or something?” Martha questioned. The Doctor and Imogen exchanged looks.

“Ugh…humans. We’re stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you’re asking personal questions. Come on”, the Doctor said. He stood up with the other two and came face to face with a Judoon.

“Non-human”, the Judoon declared after shining a blue light in the Time Lord’s face.

“Oh my god you really are!” Martha exclaimed.

“And again!” the Doctor said grabbing Imogen’s hand and running once more. The trio goes up one flight and enters a corridor where people had Xs on their hands and struggling for air.

“How much Oxygen is there?” Martha asked a nurse who was giving oxygen to a woman via an oxygen tank.

Not enough for all these people. We’re going to run out”, the nurse replied.

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?” the Doctor asked Martha.

“Running on adrenaline”, she replied.

“Imogen?” he asked looking more concerned for her than Martha.

“I’m fine”, she replied. Imogen didn’t really feel that light headed at all. Which she should’ve done because of the declining levels of oxygen. Then again she wasn’t affected by the gas when she was at Mr Sneed’s morgue.

“What about the Judoon?” Martha asked as they started moving again.

“Great big lung reserves. It won’t slow them down. Where’s Mr Stoker’s office?” the Doctor asked.

“This way”, Martha said.

~Stoker's office~

“She's gone. She was here”, Martha stated when they reached Mr Stoker’s office.

The Doctor crouched down beside Mr Stoker’s pale body “Drained him dry. Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore”, he said.

“What's she doing on Earth?” Martha asked.

“She’s hiding”, Imogen replied.

“Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro”, the Doctor added “What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on”. He got up and headed for the door.

“Wait a minute”, Martha called before going over to Mr Stoker, kneeing down and gently closed his eyes.

~hallway~

“Think, think, think”, the Doctor muttered as they walked down the hallway “If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?”

Imogen looked at the large MRI sign on the wall and smiled as she got the sensation of a ‘feeling’. “I know what she’d do”, she said.

“What?” the Doctor asked. Imogen simply pointed at the MRI sign. The Doctor looked at it and he grinned.

“She's as clever as you Gen”, he remarked “almost”.

“Find the non-human!” they heard the Judoon call. The trio looked down the hall and saw the Judoon appear “Execute”.

“You need to go”, Imogen said turning to the Doctor “stop Miss Finnegan”.

“What about the Judoon?” the Doctor asked.

“Martha and I will hold them up”, Imogen replied.

“We will? How?” Martha asked wondering how they could possibly do that.

“I have a plan, trust me”, Imogen assured her. She turned to the Doctor, cupped his face and kissed him, long and hard “good luck and be careful”, she said pulling back.

“I will”, he promised and hurried off rather hoping that they’d continue that kiss later.

“So… you two are together?” Martha asked watching the Judoon march towards them.

“Yes, we are”, Imogen replied. For some reason, Martha couldn’t help feel disappointed by her answer. She didn’t know what kind of answer she’d been hoping for though. If that kiss was any indication, she would’ve said they were in some sort of relationship. So why did she feel disappointed?


	8. Chapter 8

Imogen and Martha waited in middle of the corridor as the Judoon marched toward them. “Now listen, I know who you're looking for. She's this woman. She calls herself Florence”, Martha told them.

The head Judoon scanned Martha. “Human”, he declared and drew an x on the back of her hand. He turned his scanner on Imogen, shining the blue light in her face. “Human… wait…Non-human traits suspected. Non-human element confirmed” The Judoon pushed her against the wall “what are you?” he demanded. Imogen didn’t answer “Authorize full body scan. What are you? What are you?” he demanded again. Imogen still kept quiet and hoped that she was buying the Doctor enough time.

The minutes ticked by as the Judoon continued to scan Imogen. The brunette watched Martha out of the corner of her eye. The trainee doctor seemed to be handling this situation rather well in her opinion.

Suddenly the familiar sensation of an instinct came over Imogen but this one left her with an incredibly bad feeling about the Doctor. She took off towards the MRI room, Martha and the Judoon chasing after her.

She burst into the MRI room and saw a Slab holding the Doctor, Miss Finnegan drinking his blood through a straw. “Get away from him!” Imogen shouted rushing over, grabbing the woman and yanking her away from the Doctor.

The Judoon entered and the Slab dropped the Doctor. “This is alien you’ve been looking for”, Imogen informed the Judoon keeping a tight grip on the woman’s arm.

“Alien? I’m afraid your sorely mistaken my dear”, Miss Finnegan said holding up her hand showing Imogen the black x on the back.

“You may have been catalogued as a human before but you just drank my boyfriend’s blood”, Imogen stated. She looked at Martha who realised what she was getting at. The black woman snatched one of the Judoon’s scanners and pointed it at Miss Finnegan.

“Oh alright, scan all you like”, Miss Finnegan said with a smug look on her face.

“Non-human”, the head Judoon declared.

“But, what?” Miss Finnegan asked, the smug look gone from her face.

“Confirm analysis”

“Oh, but it's a mistake, surely. I'm human. I'm as human as they come”, Miss Finnegan insisted.

“I’m afraid your sorely mistaken Miss Finnegan. The Doctor isn’t human”, Imogen pointed out smirking at the shocked look on the woman’s face.

“He gave his life so they'd find you”, Martha added.

“Confirm: Plasmavore”, the head Judoon declared “charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine”.

“Well, she deserved it!” Miss Finnegan snapped “Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore”.

“Then you confess?” the head Judoon asked.

“Confess? I'm proud of it!” Miss Finnegan sneered “Slab, stop them!” she ordered. She then quickly yanked her arm out of Imogen’s grip and dashed behind the screen as the Slab fired at the on the Judoon. The Judoon shot at the Slab, disintegrating it.

“Enjoy your victory, Judoon”, Miss Finnegan said after she plugged in the MRI scanner causing the warning light to flash “because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!”

The Judoon fired at Miss Finnegan and she gets incinerated. “Case closed”, the head Judoon stated.

“But what did she mean, burn with me?” Martha asked.

“The MRI”, Imogen murmured frowning at the machine “She's done something to it”.

The Judoon scan the machine “Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse”, the head Judoon stated.

“Well, do something! Stop it!” Martha ordered.

“Our jurisdiction has ended”, the head Judoon told her “Judoon will evacuate”.

“What? You can't just leave it. What's it going to do?” Martha demanded but she was ignored.

“All units withdraw!” the head Judoon ordered through his communicator. He then turned and left the room with the other 3 Judoon.

“How could they leave Imogen?” Martha asked starting to sway “how… could they?”

“Martha you need to rest”, Imogen said lightly grasping her upper arms, making her sit down on the floor.

“What about the machine?” Martha panted trying to keep her eyes open “and the Doctor?”

“I’ll deal with the machine and the Doctor”, Imogen said “Rest”, she ordered. Martha nodded, closing her eyes and laying down. Imogen knelt by the Doctor and started CPR on him. She blinked as black dots started to appear in her vision. Imogen took a deep breath and pressed her lips against the Doctor’s, passing the oxygen to him. She drew back and the Doctor gasped awake, coughing a little.

“The MRI”, Imogen gasped “red plug”. The Doctor nodded and slowly got up, stumbling over to the machine. Imogen lay down on the floor, eyes drifting closed as the last of the oxygen was used up.  

\----------------------------

Once Imogen had regained consciousness, she and the Doctor slipped out of the hospital. Due to the crowds and slight chaos they were able to leave the hospital without being noticed. They stopped at the TARDIS, Imogen looking over at Martha with a smile and a wave while the Doctor unlocked her box. He opened the door and stepped inside, Imogen following him.

“Right, I think you need some rest”, Imogen said after the Doctor had gotten the TARDIS into the Time Vortex.  

“Oh, I’m fine”, the Doctor said.

“Really? Because not 10 minutes ago you had a Plasmavore drinking your blood. Even you can’t bounce back from something like that this quickly”, Imogen told him.

“Yeah… I suppose you’re right”, the Doctor agreed, a little idea forming “how about the library?” he suggested.

“Sure”, Imogen said. She was surprised he agreed with her that easily but didn’t comment in case he’d change his mind.  They walked to the library, hand in hand. The pair entered the room, headed over to one of the comfy sofas and sat down. “How about a cup of tea?” she suggested.

“I’ve got a better idea”, the Doctor said.

“What?” Imogen asked.

“This” the Doctor cupped her face and kissed her.

~Martha's home~

Martha sat in her room, applying mascara as she listened to the radio.

_“Eyewitness reports from the Royal Hope Hospital continue to pour in, and it all seems to be remarkably consistent. This from medical student Oliver Morgenstern…”_

“ _I was there_ ”, Morgenstern came on _“I saw it happen. And I feel uniquely privileged. I looked out at the surface of the moon. I saw the Earth, suspended in space, and it all just proves Mr Saxon right. We're not alone in the universe. There's life out there. Wild and extraordinary life”._

~TARDIS~

The Doctor lay stretched out on the sofa, his hand resting on Imogen’s back as she lay on top of him. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“A bit better”, the Doctor replied “you were going to tell me something at the hospital. What was it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing important. What do you think about Martha?”

“She’s fairly smart, knows how to keep calm in a crisis”, the Doctor answered “why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if we could give Martha a quick trip, as a thank you”, Imogen said “unless you think that’s not a good idea”, she quickly added.

“I think that’s a very good idea”, the Doctor agreed “you wouldn’t happen to know where she is at the moment?”

Imogen gave him a knowing smile.

\----------------

Imogen and the Doctor waited by the entrance to the alleyway that faced the pub. Eventually a blonde haired woman came storming out followed by Martha, another dark skinned woman and a dark skinned man. There was an altercation in which the blonde stormed off and the man chased after her. Martha looked across the street and noticed the Doctor and Imogen standing there. She followed them as they headed into the alleyway.

“I went to the moon today”, she said to the pair who were now standing next to a blue box.

“A bit more peaceful than down here”, the Doctor said.

“You never even told me who you are”, Martha said.

“He’s the Doctor”, Imogen said.

“What sort of species?” Martha asked “It's not every day I get to ask that”.

“I'm a Time Lord”, the Doctor replied.

“Right! Not pompous at all, then”

“I thought you might like a trip with us”, Imogen said “since you were very helpful at the hospital”.

“Plus I’ve got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip with us”, the Doctor added.

“What, into space?” Martha asked.

“Well…”

“But I can't. I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad”, Martha said. She was interested but she did have other important things to do.

“Martha if it helps, the Doctor can travel in time as well”, Imogen informed her.

“Get out of here”, Martha said not believing Imogen.

“I can”, the Doctor insisted.

“Come on now, that's going too far”, Martha said shaking her head.

“Looks like we’re going to have to show her”, Imogen  said. The Time Lord nodded and they stepped inside the TARDIS.

~Chancery Street~

“There she is”, the Doctor said spotting Martha in the busy street.

“Well…here I go”, Imogen  said. She started to walk away from the Doctor when she turned back “Can I borrow your tie?”

The Doctor took it off and gave it to her. “Thanks”, Imogen  said popping it around her neck, leaving it loose. She gave the Doctor a brief peck on the lips and then hurried after Martha.

Imogen  stepped out in front of the black woman startling her “Hello Martha!” she greeted cheerfully “Listen I don’t have much time so I need you to listen very carefully” Imogen  took a breath “Use your eyes, notice everything because it might just save your life or the life of someone else’s”

“Uh…” Martha said not really knowing what to say to that.

“Well, I best be off! Have a good day Martha Jones!” Imogen  said and walked off. Martha just stood there watching her go with a look of utter confusion on her face. _What on Earth was that all about?_ She thought. But the trainee doctor could really dwell on it, she had a job to get to and her brother’s 21st think about.

~Alley way~

Martha stared wide eyed as the blue police box appeared literally a split second after it had gone. Imogen  stepped out followed by the Doctor who was putting his tie back on.

 “Told you”, Imogen  said in a sing song voice.

“I know, but…that was this morning!” Martha cried trying to get her head around the fact that the Imogen  she had seen that morning _knew_ her but the Imogen  in the hospital didn’t because the former had gone back in time to give her the message. Then a thought occurred to her “Hold on, if you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?” she asked.

“Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden”, the Doctor said seriously “Except for cheap tricks”, he added with a smile.

“And proving a point”, Imogen  added.

“And that's your spaceship?” Martha asked nodding to the TARDIS.

 “It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space”, Imogen replied.

“Your spaceship's made of wood. There's not much room. The three of us would be a bit intimate”, Martha said putting a hand on the blue box.

“Take a look”, the Doctor said pushing the door open.

“No, no, no”, Martha said gaping at the sheer size inside. She quickly backed out “But it's just a box”, she said going around the entire blue box “But it's huge”. Martha then went back inside trying to figure out how that was even possible. Imogen and the Doctor followed her in. “How does it do that? It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside”, she said with the Doctor mouthing the last part making Imogen giggle.

“Is it? I hadn't noticed”, the Doctor said sarcastically and Imogen laughed again. He smiled at her before closing the door.

“Shall we get going Doctor?” Imogen asked going up to the console.

“Yep”, the Doctor said joining her.

“But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?” Martha asked walking up the ramp.

“Just me”, the Doctor said “and Gen”.

“So it’s just the two of you?” Martha asked.

“We used to have someone else travelling with us. Rose, her name was…” the Doctor vaguely keeping his focus on the console, flicking switches.

“Where is she now?” Martha asked.

“She’s with her family”, Imogen replied trying to ignore the pang in her heart at the thought of her best friend. She really did miss her.

“She’s happy”, the Doctor quickly added She's fine…she's…not that you're replacing her”, the Doctor replied looking up at Martha.

“Never said I was”, Martha said.

“Just _one_ trip to say thanks”, the Doctor continued “you get one trip, then back home. I’d rather it be Imogen and I”.

“I’ll say, that was some kiss Imogen gave you”, Martha remarked noting the blush on the Doctor’s face and the smile on Imogen’s.

“Th-that was for good luck!” he defended.

“Right”, Martha said slowly “I don’t blame her for giving you that ‘good luck kiss’, you are wearing a rather tight suit”.

“It makes him look rather handsome”, Imogen commented giving the Doctor a kiss on the cheek making his embarrassment vanish.

“Right then!” the Doctor cleared his throat “Close down the gravitic anomaliser, fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake. Ready?” he said with his hand on the lever to dematerialise the TARDIS.

“No”, Martha replied.

“I am”, Imogen answered with a grin.

“Off we go!” the Doctor said and pulled the lever. The TARDIS shook as it vanished.

“Blimey, it's a bit bumpy”, Martha commented.

“Welcome aboard, Miss Jones”, the Doctor said reaching over extending his hand.

“It's my pleasure, Mr Smith, Miss Smith”, Martha said shaking his hand.

“Likewise Martha”, Imogen said.


	9. Chapter 9

“But how do you travel in time? What makes it go?” Martha asked while clinging onto the console.

“Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything. Martha, you don't want to know. It just does”, the Doctor said “Hold on tight!”

The TARDIS jerks to a halt. Martha would’ve nearly fallen if Imogen hadn’t grabbed hold of her with one hand while gripping onto the console with the other. “Blimey. Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?” Martha asked.

“He failed it”, Imogen said dryly “big time”.

“I did not”, the Doctor said quickly.

“12 months instead of hours. Going for Naples we end up in Cardiff. Aimed for New York and got London 1953”, Imogen listed off “Shall I go on?”

“Please don’t”, the Doctor muttered. He turned to Martha who was looking a little worried. If the Doctor had ended up in the wrong place several times would he be able to get her home? “Anyway, make the most of this because I promised you one trip. And one trip only” the Time Lord walked down the ramp to the doors “Outside this door, brave new world”, he said.

“Where are we?” Martha asked as she and Imogen joined him.

“Take a look. After you”, the Doctor replied opening the door. Martha left the TARDIS and was amazed.

“Oh, you are kidding me. You are so kidding me. Oh, my God, we did it. We travelled in time”, Martha said taking in their surroundings “where are we?” she asked “No, sorry… _where_ are we?” she amended. She was suddenly pulled backwards by Imogen just as a man empties his slop bucket from an upstairs window.

“Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that”, the Time Lord said answering her question.

“I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift A+E”, Martha said. Imogen screwed her nose up at the smell. “We safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?” the trainee doctor asked.

“Of course we can” the Doctor answered “Why do you ask?”

“It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race”, Martha said.

“What have butterflies ever done to you?” Imogen asked confused.

“What if, I don't know, what if I kill my grandfather?” Martha asked.

“Are you planning to?” the Doctor asked starting to walk again.

“No”, Martha replied.

“Well, then”, the Doctor said.

“This is London, right?” Martha asked looking around as they walked.

“Yep”, Imogen replied popping the p “about….” she tilted her head thinking “1599 I believe”. Imogen looked to the Doctor and he nodded.

“That’s about right”, the Doctor confirmed.

“So where are we going first?” Imogen asked.

“Well if I’m right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to…” the Doctor grabbed Imogen’s uninjured hand and ran. He stopped when the Globe Theatre came into view “the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe…”

“It’s a tetra decagon. Fourteen sides”, Imogen said interrupting him.

“And containing the man himself”, the Doctor added.

“Whoa, you don't mean… is Shakespeare in there?” Martha asked, a little thrilled at the prospect of meeting the infamous playwright himself.

“Yep”, Imogen replied.

“Miss Jones, Miss Smith, will you accompany me to the theatre?” the Doctor asked offering both arms to them.

“Mr Smith, I will”, Martha replied taking one of his arms.

“Watching a play by Shakespeare in the Globe Theatre sounds like fun. Count me in”, Imogen said linking her arm through his other one.

“When you get home, you two can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare”, the Doctor said.

“I could get sectioned”, Martha joked.

“If you did, I’d rescue you”, Imogen assured her.

“Really?” Martha asked.

“Of course!” Imogen said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That's amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah?” Martha asked after the play had finished.

“Ah…men dressed in drag”, Imogen sighed “London never changes”.

“Where's Shakespeare?” Martha asked “I want to see Shakespeare. Author!” she called “Author! “Do people shout that?” she asked to the Doctor and Imogen quietly “Do they shout Author?”

“Author! Author!” a man shouted and soon the crowd started chanting it. 

“Well, they do now”, the Doctor said. The chants turned into applause as the one and only Shakespeare came out on the stage.

“He's a bit different from his portraits”, Martha commented.

“He’s better looking than his portraits”, Imogen said earning her a look of disbelief from the Doctor. Not that the brunette noticed.

“Definitely”, the dark skinned woman agreed. 

“Nothing on you love”, Imogen added looking at the Doctor who now looked pleased.  

“Genius”, he said “He's a genius. THE genius. The most human there's ever been. Now we're going to hear him speak. Always he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words”.

“Maybe we should leave and let the Doctor fan boy over Shakespeare. We could take Sexy for a spin”, Imogen whispered to Martha. She was going to reply when the playwright spoke.

“Shut your big fat mouths!”

“Oh, well”, the Doctor said clearly disappointed.

“You should never meet your heroes”, Martha said.

“You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that. Oh, that's a wig. I know what you're all saying. Loves Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius”, Shakespeare said and then bowed. He suddenly jerked upright, Imogen frowning at the action “When? Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it Loves Labour's Won”, he added. _But there isn’t a sequel_ Imogen thought, she knew that much.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of Loves Labour's Won”, Martha said as they filed out with the rest.

“Exactly. The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why”, the Doctor said. 

“Have you got a mini-disc or something?” Martha asked “We can tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint”.

“That wouldn’t be a good idea Martha”, Imogen said.

“How come it disappeared in the first place?” Martha asked.

“Well…I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer”, the Doctor said.

Eventually the trio find where Shakespeare was staying. “Hello! Excuse me, not interrupting, am I? Mr Shakespeare, isn't it?” the Doctor asked entering the room.

“Oh, no. No, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove...” Shakespeare then noticed both Imogen and Martha “Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me”.  The writer then turned to Burbage and Kempe “You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go”, he said.

“Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muses”, Dolly said ushering out the other two men.

“Sweet ladies”, Shakespeare said as the trio sat down in front of his table “Such unusual clothes. So fitted”.

“Er, verily, forsooth, egads”, Martha said trying to sound like the Elizabethan people.

“Martha don’t do that”, Imogen said knowing that you only had to talk normally to them. 

“I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS. This is my _wife_ Dame Imogen and our companion Miss Martha Jones”, Doctor said showing Shakespeare the psychic paper, making sure to emphasise the word wife. He didn’t want Shakespeare to flirt with his Imogen. Martha, yes. Imogen, no. Absolutely not.

“Interesting, that bit of paper”, Shakespeare commented “It's blank”.

“Oh, that's very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius”, the Doctor said happily.

“No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Martha Jones. It says so”, Martha said looking at it and seeing the words.

“And I say it's blank”, Shakespeare repeated.

“Psychic paper. Er, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch”, the Doctor said tucking the psychic paper in his coat.

“Psychic? Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady and lovely woman with unusual eyes?” Shakespeare asked eyeing the two females

“What did you say?” Martha asked slightly outraged by what he called her.

“Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric?” Shakespeare asked.

“I can't believe I'm hearing this”, Martha said getting more annoyed.

“Unbelievable”, Imogen muttered.

“Its political correctness gone mad”, the Doctor said “Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia”. _Freedonia?_ Imogen thought _could’ve come up with a better name than that._

A man in expensive clothes and wearing a gold chain of office enters the room. “Excuse me! Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mister Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed”

“Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it round”, Shakespeare said to him.

“I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine. The script, now!” Lynley demanded.

“I can't”, Shakespeare said.

“Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled”, Lynley said firmly. Imogen glanced over at the young maid as she slips out of the room. “I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labours Won will never be played”, Lynley said and with that he walked out of the room.

“Well then, mystery solved. That's Love's Labour’s won over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know, more mysterious”, Martha said.

Imogen suddenly shot to her feet and dashed out of the room, the Doctor and Martha quickly following her. The trio rushed outside in time to see Lynley stagger across the courtyard spewing water. 

“It's that Lynley bloke”, Martha said. She, the Doctor and Imogen went to him to try to do something to help. The man collapsed on the cobble stones “Got to get the heart going. Mister Lynley, come on. Can you hear me? You're going to be all right”, Martha said starting to clear Lynley's airways for CPR, and water gushes out “What the hell is that?” she explained.

“I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then, I don't know, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow”, the Doctor explained. Imogen looked up at the balcony where the maid was watching what was going on. Their eyes met and Imogen got the sensation of an instinct. It left her with a bad feeling. _You had something do with this_ she thought as she moved away from the balcony. 

“Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away”, the Doctor said to Dolly.

“Yes, sir”, Dolly said.

“I'll do it, ma'am”, the maid offered. Dolly nodded and the maid walked off but not before making eye contact with Imogen. 

“And why are you telling them that?” Martha asked.

“This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft”

“Okay, what was it then?” Martha asked.

“Witchcraft”, the Doctor replied seriously.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I got you two rooms, Sir Doctor. You, Miss Jones and Dame Imogen are just across the landing”, Dolly said to the three of them when they went back the Shakespeare’s room.

“Poor Lynley”, Shakespeare sighed “So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?”

“Where a woman can do what she likes”, Martha replied.

Shakespeare turned to Imogen “there’s something about you Dame Imogen, something… impossible. In more ways than one”, he said. He then looked at the Doctor “And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?” Shakespeare asked turning to the Doctor.

“I do a lot of reading”, the Doctor replied.

“A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do” Shakespeare turned to Martha “And you? You look at him like you're surprised he exists. He's as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me” he looked at Imogen “But not to you Dame Imogen”.

“I think we should say goodnight”, Martha said and left the room. Imogen leaves also.

“You and the Doctor share a room. I’ll take the other”, she said to the woman and entered one of the rooms. Truthfully she wanted to be alone so she could think. There was something about the maid that was bothering her and she still couldn’t shake that bad feeling she’d got from her instinct.

“I must work. I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours”, Shakespeare said to the Time Lord.

“All the world's a stage”, the Doctor said.

“Hmm. I might use that. Goodnight, Doctor”.

“Nighty night, Shakespeare”, the Doctor said and left.


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor was a little disappointed when he stepped into Imogen’s room to find the brunette was already asleep. He really wanted to talk to her about what was going on. However, he wasn’t going to wake her just for a chat. He’d talk to her in the morning.

The Doctor walked over to the bedroom window, pulling it closed before he got into bed, taking care not to jostle Imogen. He didn’t go to sleep though. His mind was still going over everything that had happened. He knew there was something wrong, something that was staring him in the face but he couldn’t see it!

Suddenly a scream sounded. The Doctor scrambled out of bed and ran out of the room. He met Martha out in the hall and they hurried to Shakespeare’s room. Martha goes to the window while the Doctor went to Dolly. Shakespeare could only just stare at the unmoving innkeeper.

“Her heart gave out. She died of fright”, the Doctor said.

“Doctor?” Martha called still looking out the window.

“What did you see?” the Doctor asked when he joined the other woman at the window.

“A witch”, Martha replied. She then noticed that a certain brunette was missing. “Doctor? Where’s Imogen?” she asked. The Time Lord glanced around the room, surprised she wasn’t there. He’d thought she was right behind him.

The Doctor went back to the bedroom and found Imogen still asleep. It was surprising really, he would’ve thought she’d have been woken by the scream. He went around to her side of the bed and gently shook her shoulder. She didn’t stir. “Gen?” He said shaking her a little harder. Still she didn’t wake.

“Doctor is she ok?” Martha asked from the doorway.

“I don’t know”, he replied “she’s not waking up”. The Doctor quickly checked her pulse and breathing, both of which were not normal. Why didn’t he realise that something was wrong before? Why did he just assume that she was asleep? The Doctor got out his sonic and scanned Imogen. His eyes widened at the results.

“Doctor, whats wrong?” Martha asked seeing his reaction.

“Martha… she’s dying”, the Doctor breathed staring at Imogen, his hearts starting to hammer in his chest.

“What?!” Martha exclaimed running over “what do you mean she’s dying?”

“She’s been poisoned”, the Doctor whispered.

“Oh god”, Martha gasped “the witch must’ve done it… is there anything you can do to save her?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t recognise the poison that was used”, the Doctor admitted running a hand through his hair.

“So we need to find the witch then? Maybe she’s got an antidote”, Martha suggested trying to stay calm as she could see the Doctor starting to fall apart.

The Doctor nodded “yeah… maybe”, he agreed “but I don’t know where we’d start!” he smacked his hand on the wall “Imogen would….she would know! She always seems to know these things! Martha I…I can’t… I…I need her…”

“Doctor she _needs_ you” Martha said grasping his hands “you’ve got to keep it together”.

The Doctor glanced at Imogen. Martha was right, he did need to keep it together. Him falling apart wasn’t going to save her. “You’re right Martha. We need to find this witch”, he said firmly.

“Peter Streete spoke of witches”, Shakespeare spoke up.

“Who's Peter Streete?” the Doctor asked.

“Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe”, Shakespeare replied.

“We need to talk to him”, the Doctor said. If this Peter Streete knew of the witches then he might be able to help find them.

“You won't get an answer”, Shakespeare said “A month after finishing the Globe theatre, he lost his mind”

“Why? What happened?” Martha queried.

“Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled”, Shakespeare explained.

“Where is he now?” the Doctor asked

“Bedlam”, Shakespeare replied.

“What's Bedlam?” Martha asked.

“Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse”, Shakespeare answered.

“We're going to go there. Right now”, the Doctor added.

“Doctor, I think I ought to stay with Imogen”, Martha said “in case she wakes up or something”.

The Doctor nodded “All right. She’s got a phone. Call me if anything changes”, he said. Martha promised to do so and the two men left.

~Bedlam~

 “Does my Lord Doctor wish some entertainment while he waits? I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam”, the keeper said to the Time Lord.

“No, I don't!” the Doctor shouted.

The keeper put his hands up and continued walking, the Doctor and Shakespeare following. “They can be dangerous, my lord. Don't know their own strength”, the keeper warned as they entered the cell.

“I think it helps if you don't whip them. Now get out!” the Doctor shouted at him. The keeper of the hospital left. The Doctor tried to talk to Peter but he wasn’t answering so he decided a different tact. He placed his fingers on the man’s temples “Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past. One year ago. Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A Winter's Tale. Let go. That's it. That's it, just let go”

The Doctor lies Peter down on his cot “Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches”, he said.

“Witches spoke to Peter”, Peter said quietly “In the night, they whispered. They whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. Their design! The fourteen walls. Always fourteen. When the work was done they snapped poor Peter's wits”

“Where did Peter see the witches? Where in the city? Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?” the Doctor urged. He had to know! Imogen’s life depended on it!

“All Hallows Street”, Peter replied.

“Too many words”, a woman who looked exactly like a stereotypical witch said suddenly appearing next to the Doctor.

“Just one touch of the heart”, the woman, Doomfinger, said and placed a hand on Peter’s chest.

“No!” the Doctor shouted as Peter cried out.

“Witch! I'm seeing a witch!” Shakespeare exclaimed.

“Who would be next, hmm? Just one touch”, Doomfinger said turning to the Doctor and Shakespeare.

The Time Lord stepped forward “if you’re looking for volunteers”, he said “but there’s something I need first”.

“And what would that be?” Doomfinger asked.

“The antidote for the poison that’s killing my girlfriend”, the Doctor replied glaring at her.

“So the impossible child is still alive?” Doomfinger asked rather intrigued by that “that’ll have to be rectified”.

~the witches house~

Lilith moved away from the caldron and picked up the locket she’d taken. She held it in her hand and started to chant.

~Imogen’s room~

Martha was startled when Imogen suddenly started to convulse. She stood up and held her down. The only thing she could do really under the circumstances. She let out a small scream when Imogen’s eyes flew open and she let out a gasp.

“Martha”, she gasped “C-Carrionites…14…w-words…Harry…” Imogen’s eyes closed, her body going lax under Martha’s hands. The black woman checked her pulse. It was very weak.

Martha snatched up Imogen’s mobile which she’d taken from her pocket and quickly texted the message to the Doctor.

~Bedlam~

The Doctors’ phone buzzed. He took it out and saw he had a message.

_Carrionite_

_14_

_Words_

_Harry_

_Hurry Doctor, she’s very weak_

Carrionite. That was very familiar to the Doctor. That had to be the species! “I want that antidote for Imogen. Now”, the Doctor demanded.

“I’m afraid I don’t have it on me and even if I did, it wouldn’t do much good for Imogen. She’s going to be dead very soon”, Doomfinger smirked.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her “Well, I suppose the only thing I can do now is to name you”, he said.

“None on Earth has knowledge of us”, Doomfinger said with a smirk.

“But I’m not from Earth. And I name you Carrionite!” the Doctor pointed his finger at Doomfinger. The now named Carrionite screamed and vanishes in a flash of light.

“What did you just do?” Shakespeare asked.

“I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic”, he replied.

“But there's no such thing as magic”, Shakespeare said shaking his head. 

“Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead”, the Doctor explained.

“Use them for what?” Shakespeare asked.

“The end of the world”, the Doctor said seriously.

\----------------

The moment the Doctor and Shakespeare came back to the Elephant Inn, the Time Lord immediately headed to Imogen’s room. “She’s very weak Doctor”, Martha said worriedly.

The Doctor came around the bed “we know where they are Imogen, just hang on a little longer”, he said gently touching the brunette’s cheek.

“What did her message mean Doctor?” Martha asked.

“Well, Carrionite is the name of the alien species we’ve encountered. They use words as power”, the Doctor explained “but the thing is, the Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend”.

“Well…I'm going for real”, Shakespeare said.

“But what do they want?” Martha asked.

“A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft”, the Doctor replied.

“But how?” Martha asked.

“I’m looking at the man with words”, the Doctor said looking pointedly at Shakespeare.

“Me? But I’ve done nothing”, Shakespeare insisted.

 “What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?” Martha asked.

“Finishing the play”, Shakespeare replied.

“What happens on the last page?” the Doctor asked.

“The boys get the girls”, Shakespeare answered “They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual. Except those last few lines. Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them”.

“That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. They are going to use the play”, the Doctor realised “The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that”.

It didn’t take long for the Doctor to find All Hallows Street on the map provided by Shakespeare. The Time Lord instructed the author to go to the Globe to stop the play while he headed to the witches house. Martha stayed behind with Imogen. 

~All Hallows Street~

The Doctor stopped in the street and looked at the different houses. “Which house is it?” he muttered. A door to one of the houses creaked open “make that witch house”, he joked. The Doctor entered the house and walked up the steps to the attic. “I take it we're expected”, the Doctor stated to the young woman that was waiting for him.

“Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time”, the young woman, Lilith said “Sir Doctor!” she pointed at him but the Doctor didn’t flinch. “Fascinating. There is NO name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?” Lilith asked “oh, but look…there’s one _word_ with the power that aches”.

“The naming won’t working on me”, the Doctor said.

“No?” Lilith smirked “not even the dying lady…your beloved Imogen?”

The Doctor glared at her and strode forward, the words having the opposite effect on what Lilith had hoped “oh, big mistake”, he growled “cos that name keeps me fighting!”

“For the moment…” Lilith produced Imogen’s locket causing the Doctor to stop “unless of course your beloved dies”. She was startled when the locket was yanked out of her hand by something invisible. 

“How did you do that?” Lilith asked gaping at the Doctor.

“I didn’t do it”, the Doctor said defending himself. He was just as surprised as she was. But he was glad that she no longer had the locket in her possession. Who knows what she could’ve done to Imogen! “Now, the Carrionites vanished”, he said getting back to more important matters “where did they go?”

“The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness”, Lilith replied still a little shaken by what had just happened.

“And how did you escape?”

“New words. New and glittering from a mind like no other”, Lilith answered.

“Shakespeare”, the Doctor nodded.

“His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance”, Lilith explained.

“How many of you?” the Doctor asked.

“Just 3. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic”

“Hm…busy schedule…” the Doctor remarked “but first you’ve got to get past me”.

“Oh, that should be a pleasure considering my enemy has such a handsome shape” Lilith reached up to touch his face but the Doctor grabbed her hand.

“Now, that’s one form of magic that’s definitely not gonna work on me”, the Doctor said. There was no way Lilith could ever charm him. For one very good reason. She wasn’t Imogen.

“Oh, we’ll see”, Lilith smirked before quickly yanked out a lock of his hair with her free hand.

“What did you do?” the Doctor demanded as Lilith backed away.

“Souvenir”, Lilith said.

“Well, give it back!” the Doctor lunged for her but she stepped back, throwing her arms up. The window blew open and the Carrionite flew back out, levitating in the air. “That’s just cheating!”

“Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets” Lilith pulled out a doll and wrapped his hair around it.

“Now, you might call that magic…I'd call that a DNA replication module”, the Doctor said seeing the doll.

“What use is your science now?” she asked before stabbing the doll. The Time Lord cried out in pain and collapsed. Lilith then flew away.

 The Doctor tried to stand but he promptly fell to his knees. He tried again and nearly fell for a third time if it wasn’t for someone grabbing his arm. It was Naiyah in her last regeneration. She did she that he’d see her again. He just didn’t think it was going to take this long. “Looks like I’m bailing you out again Doctor”, she said “you’ve really got to learn to stop getting yourself into these kind of messes”.

“But that’s what you always liked about me”, the Doctor countered giving her a sad smile despite the pain.

“I know”, Naiyah said “now brace yourself, this is going to hurt”. She proceed to thump him on the chest over his right heart and then hit him on his back.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when his right heart started up again. “Much better, thank you”, he said.

“You’re welcome”, Naiyah said helping him to his feet “oh, you’re going to need this” she said holding up the locket “and this” she also held up a small phial.

“The antidote”, the Doctor said eyeing the phial.

The Time Lady nodded “give this to Imogen and in probably….2 maybe 4 hours, she’ll be perfectly fine”, she said.

The Doctor took the locket and antidote from her. “Thank you”, he said grateful that the woman had the antidote. For one horrible moment he thought that Lilith had taken it with her.

“No problem”

“Um….Naiyah? Do you think you could help me stop the Carrionites?” the Doctor asked. He could do with all the help he could get.

Naiyah smiled “yes”, she said “yes, I can”.

“Right! To the Globe!” the Doctor declared and hurried out of the room. Naiyah chased after him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We're going the wrong way!” Naiyah yelled as they ran down the street.

“No, we're not!” the Doctor called back.

“Yes we are!” Naiyah shouted grabbing his arm and pulling him the right way. When they reach the theatre, a red glow hangs over it.

“Stage door!” the Doctor shouts darting towards it. The trio found a groggy Shakespeare backstage “Stop the play. I think that was it. Yeah, I said, stop the play!”

“Doctor moan at him later. We’ve got to stop the Carrionites”, Naiyah said.

“Right you are”, the Doctor agreed. He runs out onto the stage, followed by Naiyah and Shakespeare.

“The Doctor! He lives!” Lilith cried spotting the Doctor on the stage “Then watch this world become a blasted heath!  They come. They come!” Lilith shouted holding up a crystal ball out into the red light and bat-like creatures fly into the theatre. They circle a bit then fly up into the sky.

“Come on, Will! History needs you!” the Doctor said loudly as to be heard over the noise.

“But what can I do?” Shakespeare asked.

“Reverse it!” the Doctor shouted.

“But what words? I have none ready!” Shakespeare cried.

“You're William Shakespeare!”

“But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision”, Shakespeare said not believing that he could do what the others expected of him.

“Trust yourself”, the Doctor urged “When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they, like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever. That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise”.

“Close up this din of hateful, dire decay, decomposition of your witches' plot. You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!” Shakespeare began.

“No! Words of power!” Lilith cried.

“Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points…” Shakespeare continued.

“Seven six one three nine oh!” the Doctor put in.

“Seven six one three nine oh! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…”

“Expelliarmus” Naiyah whispered to the Doctor. She knew that no one but the Doctor will be able to see or hear her.

“Expelliarmus!” the Doctor shouted.

“Expelliarmus!” Shakespeare yelled

“Good old JK!” the Doctor cheered. He also realised that was what _Harry_ meant on the message Martha sent him, it was a reference to Harry Potter. 

The Carrionites scream. “The deep darkness! They are consumed!” Lilith exclaimed. The Carrionites are sucked into a tornado, along with all the extant pages of the play.

“Love's Labours Won. There it goes”, the Doctor said watching the pages go. The sky clears with a flash and bang. After a few moments, someone starts clapping, then all the audience joins in.

“They just think its special effects”, Naiyah commented shaking her head “humans”. That got a curious look from the Doctor, not that she noticed.

The Time Lord slipped away, heading up to the empty box to collect the crystal the Carrionites were now trapped in. He then hurried out of the Globe, running back towards the Elephant Inn. He had a girlfriend to save.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Martha looked up when the Doctor burst into the room. “I got it”, he said holding up the phial. He sat Imogen up, leaning her against him as Martha opened the phial and poured a little into the brunette’s open mouth.

“How long is it going to take?” Martha asked.

“Couple of hours maybe more”, the Doctor replied. He noticed Naiyah by the doorway and mouthed ‘thank you’. She gave him a smile before disappearing before his very eyes. The Doctor gathered Imogen up in his arms and walked out of the room. Martha followed after him. They went back to the TARDIS and stepped inside. Moments later the wheezing noise had started up and the blue box disappeared.

~Imogen’s bedroom~

The Doctor gently laid Imogen down on her bed and pulled the duvet over her. He then settled down into the desk chair readying himself for the wait until she woke.


	11. Chapter 11

Approximately four hours later, Imogen started to stir. “Doctor”, she said quietly seeing him sitting there when she opened her eyes. “What happened?”

“One of the Carrionites poisoned you”, the Doctor replied. It sounded like he’d been crying “if it wasn’t for Naiyah getting the antidote… I could’ve lost you”.

“I’m sorry”, Imogen said slowly sitting up. Her mind hadn’t quite registered the fact that he mentioned the Time Lady, the one only she could see.

The Doctor looked up confused “why are you sorry?” he asked “It wasn’t your fault”.

“It might not be my fault but this is the second or third time I’ve nearly died”, Imogen stated “I wouldn’t be surprised if you took me home”, she added in a mumble. But the Doctor still heard it.

“Imogen, I wouldn’t take you home for that. I would only take you home if you asked me to”, the Doctor said “is that what you want? To go home?” he asked, his hearts sinking at the prospect. He didn’t want her to go home. He wanted her to stay with him. Yes, she was nearly killed _again_ but that was all the more reason that she should stay. So he could do a better job of protecting her.

Imogen shook her head “No, I don’t. I just thought that’s what you wanted”, she said.

“Never” the Doctor got up from the chair and gave her a soft kiss “I love you Imogen. I don’t want you to go home”.

“Then I’ll stay”, Imogen said. Then it finally registered in her mind that he mentioned Naiyah “wait did you say ‘if it wasn’t for Naiyah’?”

“Yeah I did”, the Doctor confirmed sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“Was she a young ginger woman or a little blonde girl?” Imogen questioned.

“Neither, she was a blonde woman a little older than you”, the Doctor replied.

“I’m surprised you could see any version of her, I thought it was only me who could see her”, Imogen said.

“Well, I didn’t see her until the Game Station. She’s the one who saved me from the Daleks”, the Doctor told her “when did you first see Naiyah?”

“I first saw her in the TARDIS just after the Gelth trip”, Imogen answered “but she didn’t interact with me until Satellite 5”.

“Did she…tell you anything about why you two were connected?” the Doctor asked, hoping that the Time Lady had done so.

“I don’t know how. And unfortunately the regenerations I’ve met don’t know the reason either. All I know is that she saw me in the Untempered Schism when she looked into it. Along with 11 other women, all with the same eyes”, Imogen explained “this connection is why I thought her locket was mine”. She reach for it but her eyes widened when her fingers didn’t connect with any metal “my locket its gone!”

The Doctor held it up “the Carrionites took it. Naiyah helped me get it back”, he said. Imogen took it and clasped it around her neck. They glanced at the bedroom door when it opened and Martha stepped in.

“Hey Imogen”, she said coming over and giving the girl a gentle hug “how are you feeling?”

“I’m a little tired but I’m alive”, Imogen replied honestly “I actually could do with a cup of tea”, she added.

“I’ll get you one”, the Doctor said. He kissed the top of her head, got up from the bed and left the room. The moment he was gone, Martha moved to sit down carefully next to Imogen.

“Imogen, if this isn’t too much to ask, I was wondering if you could do me a favour”, Martha said.

“Sure, what is it?” Imogen asked.

“Could you talk to the Doctor about letting me stay a little longer?” Martha asked “Meeting you and the Doctor has probably been one of the most exciting things that’s happened to me in a while. And honestly, I don’t want this to be just one trip. I want to see more”.

“I understand Martha. I’ve been travelling with the Doctor for a while and it’s still pretty exciting. Between you and me, I don’t want you to go either”, Imogen said “the Doctor and I aren’t over losing Rose. And I think you might be what we need”.

“As what?” Martha asked.

“A friend. We need a friend”, Imogen replied. She glanced over at the door “the Doctor’s coming”, she informed Martha “I’ll see what I can do about letting you stay but no promises”.

Martha “Ok, thanks Imogen”, she said giving the girl another hug as the bedroom door opened again. The Doctor entered with a mug of tea in his hand. Martha got up, exchanged a glance with Imogen who nodded. The black woman left the room.

The Doctor came over to Imogen and gave her the mug of tea. “Thanks”, she said cradling the mug in her hands. The Time Lord sat down on the desk chair which he’d pulled up close to the bed. “Doctor we need to talk about Martha”, Imogen said after taking a couple of sips of tea.

“What about her?” the Doctor asked.

“She wants to stay”, Imogen replied “she doesn’t want this to be a one trip deal” the Doctor opened his mouth to say something when Imogen stopped him “Martha is _not_ a replacement for Rose. Nobody could ever replace Rose. But I do think we need her. We need a friend Doctor. That’s what I think Martha can be, a friend”.

The Doctor could see where she was coming from and for most part he agreed with her. He was just still hesitant to have someone else here for a long stretch of time. “I don’t think I’m ready to have someone else here Imogen”, the Doctor said “however, I am willing to give Martha _one_ more trip. But that’s it”.

Imogen nodded. She tried but if he wasn’t ready then he wasn’t ready. She was not going to force him to let Martha stay. At least he did agree to give the trainee doctor one more trip. “Ok”, she said agreeing with his terms.

\-----------------

The Doctor left Imogen’s room so he could tell Martha the fairly good news. He found her waiting in the console room. “Imogen told me that you want to stay with us”, the Doctor said and Martha nodded, eager to hear what the decision was. She hoped he was going to let her stay. “I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not ready to have someone else travel with us” Martha’s heart sank at that but she tried to keep it from showing on her face “however, we’re giving you one more trip”.

“Really?” Martha asked. Ok she wasn’t staying as a travelling companion but at least she was getting another trip.

The Doctor nodded “and as we’ve had one trip to the past, how about a trip into the future?” he asked flipping levers on the console. He had the perfect place in mind. Somewhere Imogen could relax and help her get better.

“Sounds good to me”, Martha replied.

“How about a different planet?” the Doctor asked.

“Can we go to yours?” Martha asked. If she was only getting one more trip, the planet of the Time Lords would be an amazing second/last trip for her.

“Ah, there's plenty of other places”, the Doctor said waving off that suggestion.

“Come on, though. I mean, planet of the Time Lords. That's got to be worth a look. What's it like?” Martha questioned.  

“Well, it's beautiful, yeah”, the Doctor replied. They were getting into a topic that he didn’t really want to talk about.

“Is it like, you know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?” Martha asked imaging what the home of the Time Lords was like.

“I suppose it is”, the Doctor agreed.

“Great big temples and cathedrals!” Martha said excitedly.

“Yeah”, the Doctor said thinking about his home. He wasn’t really comfortable talking about what happened to his people. He hadn’t really discussed it properly with Imogen. She knew that his planet was gone and that he was the last but he never told her about the war. It wasn’t something he could easily talk about, even now. Then again, Imogen had never asked him about it which he was grateful for.

“Lots of planets in the sky?” Martha asked. She didn’t know that it was a difficult subject for him to talk about.

“The sky's a burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever. Slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow”, he replied picturing it clearly in his mind.

“Can we go there?” Martha asked now very interested in seeing his planet.

“Nah. Where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home”, the Doctor replied dashing around the console tweaking the settings as he went. “Instead, this is much better. Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth. Second hope of mankind. Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap bang in the middle of New New York. Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original, so it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. One of the most dazzling cities ever built”, he said “but first I need to get Imogen. Can’t explore without her”.  

He left the console room, heading for Imogen’s room. “Do you think you’re up to going out?” he asked the brunette.

Imogen shook her head “not really, sorry Doctor”, she replied.

“That’s ok, you rest up”, the Doctor said trying to ignore the disappointment he was feeling. Though he had to remember that she’d been poisoned not that long ago. She wasn’t going to be able to bounce back straight away.

“Will do. Don’t you go get yourself and Martha into trouble mister”, Imogen said warningly.

“Trouble? Me? I don’t get into trouble”, the Doctor said defensively.

Imogen raised her eyebrows “uh, yeah you do. You’re a trouble magnet”, she retorted “and don’t argue back. You know its true”, she quickly added “Now, go show Martha something amazing”, Imogen lightly ordered.

“Yes ma’am”, the Doctor said giving her a quick kiss before he left.


	12. Chapter 12

Imogen gasped, sitting bolt upright. The dream she had was strange…giant crabs…a motor way jam packed with hover cars... she couldn’t make head or tail of it. But the one thing she knew for certain, Martha was going to be in trouble.

Imogen scrambled out of bed, almost falling over as she was still feeling not quite herself. She shook her head, trying to pull herself together. She had to find the Doctor and Martha! Imogen dashed out of the door, along the corridors and into the console room. She quickly crossed the grilled floor and down the ramp to the doors. Imogen grabbed the door handle, yanked it open and stepped out into the street.

As soon as she was out of the TARDIS, she took off running.

Imogen had been very eager to find the Doctor and Martha that she accidently collided with someone who was coming around the corner. “Sorry”, she said apologetically getting up and helping up the other person as well. It was only then that she recognised who it was. The cat nurse Novice Hame. “Novice Hame?” Imogen didn’t mean to stare at the feline but she looked a lot older than the last time she met her. How long had it been?

“Hello Imogen”, Novice Hame greeted “You haven't aged at all”, she remarked “Time has been less kind to me”.

“Oh, I don’t know. You look fine to me”, Imogen said tactfully. They may not have had the best relationship in terms of the cat nurse and her co-workers breeding humans for experimentation but her mother had always taught her to be polite.

“You’re far too kind”, Novice Hame said “Listen Imogen, I need you to come with me”.

“I’m afraid I can’t go with you. My friend is in big trouble. I need to find her”, Imogen said.

“Your friend isn’t the only one in trouble. There are millions in danger and they need your help”, Novice Hame told her.

“If there’s that many people in danger then we’ll need to find the Doctor”, Imogen said “I’m _good_ but I’m not exactly him”.

“I’m afraid there’s no time for that”, Novice Hame said and grabbed hold of her wrist. She pressed a button and they vanished in a flash of light.

~Senate~

Imogen groaned as she landed hard on the floor when they reappeared. “Man that’s a rough teleport”, she said picking herself up. She wasn’t feeling too great from being poisoned by the Carrionites and that landing did not help her any. “Where have you taken me?” she asked Novice Hame. She couldn’t easily see in the room due to the lack of light.

“The Senate”, Novice Hame said. She pressed a button on her teleport bracelet and light flooded the room. It was a vast area with rows of seats, littered with skeletons. Imogen stared at them, a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“What happened here?” she asked.

“People created chemicals to induce different moods. They’re delivered into the body via a patch placed on the neck”, Novice Hame explained. Imogen walked over to the nearest skeleton and crouched down, near the neck was a circular sticker. She picked it up carefully. There is a single word stamped on it: Bliss. “that was the latest chemical”, Novice Hame said crouching next to her “Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished. Even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city”, the cat nurse explained “there’s millions of people stuck on the motorway because of this”.

“And you need my help to get them out?” Imogen asked.

“Yes”, Novice Hame replied “but I’m afraid there’s not enough power to do so. We did all we could to stop the system from choking”.

“Who's ‘we’?” Imogen asked “How did you survive?”

“He protected me”, Novice Hame said with a smile “he has waited for you and the Doctor, these long years”.

“Imogen”, a very familiar low voice said somewhere behind them.

“I know that voice”, Imogen said she turned and hurried over to the other end of the room where Face of Boe was. She knelt down in front of his tank, placing a hand on the glass “hello again”, she said. 

“I knew you would come”, Boe said.

“Back in the old days, I was made his nurse as penance for my sin”, Novice Hame explained.

“What happened to you?” Imogen asked softly to Boe.

“Failing”

“He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke”, Novice Hame informed the brunette “But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea”.

“So he saved them”, Imogen said.

“The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running”, Novice Hame said looking at Boe sadly.

Imogen glanced up at her “surely you could’ve called for help from the neighbouring planets?” she asked. That’s what she would’ve done if it was her.

Novice Hame shook her head “The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for 100 years”, she said.

“And how long ago did all that happen?” Imogen asked nodding over to the skeletons.

“24 years ago”, Novice Hame replied.

“So there’s 76 years of quarantine left”, Imogen stated standing up “there’s got to be a way of getting around it”.

“I’m afraid there isn’t any way Imogen”, Novice Hame said.

“Boe doesn’t have 76 years left in him”, Imogen stated “so we’re gonna find a way”.

“If anyone can find a way, its you”, Boe said.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence”, Imogen said. She walked a little ways away and started to pace, racking her brains for something…anything that could be useful. She’d even take a ‘feeling’ right now. Her eyes shifted over to a computer screen on a wall. Was it her or did it just flicker then? Imogen stared at it from where she stood and sure enough there was another flicker. She dashed over to it and saw what appeared to be a basic plan of the motor way. Near the very bottom was 4-6-5-diamond-6. It seemed to be moving up and down as if it was trying to avoid something.

“Martha is in there”, Naiyah spoke up making Imogen jump. She spun around to see the ginger standing behind her.

“Can you help me save her and everyone else on the motor way?” Imogen asked.

The Time Lady smiled “of course I can”, she replied. She then proceeded to tell Imogen what to do. Once she finished explaining, Naiyah stood back and watched proudly as she brunette got to work, taking it all in her stride.

Imogen finally flipped a long switch on the floor. Her smile fell when the lights on the console went out. “No!” she cried “this can’t be happening!” she ran a hand through her hair “Naiyah what did I do wrong?” she asked looking at the console. There was no answer from the Time Lady. “Naiyah?” she asked turning around but the Time Lady was no longer there. “Well that’s just great”, she grumbled.

“Who’s Naiyah?” Novice Hame asked.

“My imaginary friend”, Imogen answered turning back to the console. what the heck was she supposed to do now? The person who could help had just vanished!

“Imogen…” Boe started.

“Not now”, Imogen said waving him off.

“I give you my last…” Boe let out a long, rasping breath and everything switches back on again.

“Thanks for that Boe”, Imogen said giving the large face a smile. She turned to the cat nurse “Hame, look after him!” she glanced back at Boe “Don't you dare die on me. You've got to see this” Imogen flung the large switch again as Novice Hame hurriedly turned a wheel next to Boe “the open road. Ha!”

~City gent’s car~

A large grin spread on the Doctor’s face when he suddenly saw sunlight starting to stream down into the motorway. His grin grew wider when Imogen popped up onto the small screen at the front of the car. He should’ve known she’d had something to do with it. His clever, impossible girl. “Sorry, no Sally Calypso, she was just a hologram. My name is Imogen Smith…”

~Brannigan's car~

“The Doctor said she was clever”, Valerie remarked.

“He certainly did”, Brannigan agreed.

“And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now”, Imogen continued.

“Is she serious?” Brannigan asked.

“I've opened the roof of the motorway”, Imogen said “Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. The whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast!”

~City gent’s car~

“You heard her”, the Doctor said to the smartly dressed man “let’s go”.

“Don’t have to tell me twice”, the man said and started moving his vehicle.

~Brannigan’s car~

“Here we go”, Brannigan said and started to drive upwards along with everyone else.

“We've got to clear that fast lane”, Imogen stated “Drive up and get out of the way”.

~Milo's car~

Martha never thought she’d be so happy to see the violet eyed girl in all her life the moment she appeared on the screen. “Oi! Car 4-6-5-diamond-6. Martha! Drive up!” Imogen said directly addressing them.

“That's Imogen!” Martha cheered.

“We can't go up! We'll hit the layer!” Milo exclaimed.

“Just do as she says!” Martha urged him “Go up!”

“You've got access above”, Imogen added “Now go!”

Milo nodded and steers the car up and out of the reach of the Macra. “It's daylight!” Cheen breathed as they got closer to the top “Oh my God, that's the sky. The real sky!”

Martha laughed in delight at seeing the sky, hugging Cheen.

~Brannigan's car~

“The Doctor said you were clever Imogen”, Brannigan remarked into his comm “and it seemed he was absolutely right”.

~Senate~

Imogen blushed at that, smiling as she heard his cheers. “You keep driving” she urged him “there’s a whole city up here waiting for you and your family, Brannigan. Though if you could do me a favour and pop by the senate, I believe you have something of the Doctor’s”.

“I reckon that's a fair bar gain, mam”, Brannigan said.

Imogen danced over to the window with the microphone beaming at all the cars that were emerging from the motorway. “Doctor…whichever car you’re in, come straight to the Senate”, she instructed. While she’d been opening the large doors to the motorway, she’d gotten a feeling that the Time Lord was down there too “there’s a kiss up here with your name on it”.

“I’m on my way”, the Doctor responded.

“And car 4-6-5-diamond-6, I've sent you a flight path”, Imogen said, directly addressing the car Martha was in “Come to the Senate”.

“On my way”, Martha replied.

“Imogen!” Novice Hame shouted. Imogen spun around, her face falling seeing cracks starting to appear on the glass of Boe’s tank.  

**\---------------**

The Doctor and Martha rush into the Senate Room, both happy to be reunited with the other. They were also very happy that they were about to be reunited with the clever girl that saved millions of people trapped on the motorway. However, upon seeing the skeletons, their happiness dissipated.

“Gen?” the Doctor called.

“Over here”, Imogen called back, not looking away from Boe who was now out of his tank. The Doctor and Martha hurry over, the Time Lord looking very sombre as he saw his old friend, dying.

“What's that?” Martha asked eyeing Boe warily.

“It's the Face of Boe”, Imogen said looking up at her “It's all right. Come and say hello”, she urged “And this is Hame”, the brunette added nodding to Novice Hame. The Doctor was rather surprised to see her given how the left things the last time. “It was Boe who saved you two, not me”, Imogen informed the pair.

“My lord gave his life to save the city, and now he's dying”, Novice Hame said sadly.

The Doctor shook his head “No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left”, he said joining Imogen on the floor.

“It's good to breathe the air once more”, Boe said slowly.

“Who is he?” Martha asked kneeling down next to them.

Imogen shrugged “I don’t know. Only met him twice before”, she replied.

“Even I don’t know who he is”, the Doctor put in “But legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now”.

“Everything has its time”, Boe stated to the Doctor “You know that, old friend, better than most”.

“The legend says more”, Novice Hame began.

“Don't. There's no need for that”, the Doctor said. He didn’t want to hear the supposed ‘secret’ Boe had for him. Not yet. The cat nurse had said once before that Boe would tell him at the moment of his death. And the Doctor wasn’t ready for Boe to die.

“It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller”, Novice Hame continued.

“Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?” the Doctor said trying to keep it together. Imogen took his hand and gave it a squeeze, seeing how upset he was becoming.

“I have seen so much”, Boe said “Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind…just like you”.

“That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go”, the Doctor pleaded.

“I must”, Boe said, his words barely a whisper now “Imogen…never forget _who_ you are. And Doctor…know this…you are not alone”. Boe breathed out and closed his eyes for the last time.  

~Pharmacy Town~

A little while later the trio walked back through Pharmacy Town. The Doctor was very pleased to see that it was deserted. The vendors had done exactly as he’d told them to. “All closed down”, he said.

“Happy?” Martha asked.

“Happy happy”, the Doctor replied “New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs. Cats in charge! Come on, time we were off”. He took Imogen’s hand and started to walk away with her when Martha stopped.

“But what did he mean, the Face of Boe” she asked “You're not alone”.

“I don't know”, the Doctor replied.

“You’ve got Imogen and I. Is that what he meant?” Martha questioned.

“I don't think so. Sorry”, the Doctor replied though he wasn’t sure when it came to Imogen. She did have that connection to the Time Lady Naiyah. But in all honesty he didn’t want to dwell on it right now. He just wanted to get back the to the TARDIS.

“Then what?” Martha asked.

“Doesn't matter. Back to the Tardis, off we go”, the Doctor said evading her question. Martha isn’t happy with him avoiding her questions. She picked up a fallen chair and sat down.

“All right, are you staying?” the Doctor asked when he and Imogen heard the scrape of the chair and turned around.

“Till you talk to me properly, yes”, Martha said “He said last of your kind. What does that mean?”

“Martha the Doctor doesn’t want to talk about it”, Imogen said.

“It really doesn't matter”, the Doctor added.

“You don't talk. You never say. Why not?” Martha demanded.

_Fast falls the eventide._

“It's the city”, Imogen said hearing the start of a song in the air.

_The darkness deepens_

“They're singing”, Martha added.

_Lord, with me abide._

_When other helpers fail_

“I lied to you, because I liked it. I could pretend. Just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive, underneath a burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else”, the Doctor said. Though there was another of his people around in a way but that was through a connection the Time Lady had to Imogen. Imogen, as far as he could tell was human.

“What happened?” Martha asked. Imogen squeezed the Doctor’s hand, letting him know that he had her support.

_Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day_

The Doctor righted two chairs and sat down on one. Imogen sat on the other. “There was a war. A Time War. The last Great Time War”, the Doctor said “My people fought a race called the Daleks, for the sake of all creation. And they lost. They lost. Everyone lost. They're all gone now. My family, my friends, even that sky. Oh, you should have seen it, that old planet. The second sun would rise in the south, and the mountains would shine. The leaves on the trees were silver, and when they caught the light every morning, it looked like a forest on fire. When the autumn came, the breeze would blow through the branches like a song…”

~TARDIS, later~

“I fancy a cup of tea”, Imogen suddenly said to the Doctor. As soon as they’d gotten back to the TARDIS, Martha had gone to bed, having had enough excitement for one day. The Doctor and Imogen retreated to the library and cuddled up on the sofa. “You want one?”

“Sure”, the Doctor replied. The pair got up from the sofa and left the library. It was only when they’d gotten fairly close to the kitchen, when the Doctor stopped Imogen. “Actually there’s something I want more than a cup of tea”, he said.

“And what’s that?” Imogen asked.

“Something _you_ said had my name on it”, the Doctor replied and pressed his lips against hers.  


	13. Chapter 13

Imogen tossed and turned in bed unable to fall asleep, her mind was still churning with the knowledge that there was still a Dalek out there, the last member of the Cult of Skaro. God only knows what he was planning to do now that their plan to make human Daleks had failed. The brunette huffed and sat up. This was no good. She had to do something to get her mind off of their latest trip.

Imogen slid out of bed, grabbed her dressing gown and padded out of the room. She stood in the corridor wondering where to go. Should she go see if the Doctor was around for a chat? Or perhaps a peruse in the library? The teen nodded, she liked the sound of that. She turned and headed off to the library.

The brunette rounded a corner and stopped dead when she saw 2nd Naiyah standing there. “Come”, the Time Lady said with a hand gesture before she disappeared up the corridor. Imogen hurried after her. Naiyah led her through twists and turns until they reached a door with the same markings as the locket around her neck. “Go on”, Naiyah said nodding to the door.

Imogen hesitated with her hand on the door handle. Even though Naiyah was allowing her inside, she still didn’t feel right going in. It felt to her like an invasion of privacy. The lock clicked and the door swung open of its own accord. It was as if the TARDIS was allowing her inside too. Imogen took a breath and stepped inside. At first she couldn’t see anything and then the light turned on revealing twelve females. All of them were different in terms of height, hair colour, skin colour and clothing. The only thing that was the same was their eyes. They all had violet eyes. They were all Naiyah’s regenerations.

One of the Naiyah’s stepped forward. She had blonde wavy hair and was dressed in military style garb. She had a look in her eyes that was similar to the previous Doctor. “We would have waited to show ourselves to you one at a time like we started to…” the 12th Naiyah began.

“But something is happening quicker than we were expecting”, 2nd Naiyah added moving to stand next to Imogen.

“And you need to be ready. Hence why we are showing you all of us”, 1st Naiyah finished.

“Ready for what?” Imogen asked.

“The drums”, the Time Ladies answered in unison which sent a chill down Imogen’s spine. That was scarily ominous. There was no way she was going to sleep now, not with that lingering in her mind.

“And you’ll need the power of 12 to stop it”, 12th Naiyah told her.

“The  power of 12? What is that?” Imogen questioned.

“Its us”, all the Naiyah’s said together. Then one by one they vanished into a gold mist that floated over to Imogen, surrounding her, seeping into her skin. The teenager stared wide eyed at her glowing hands. She continued to stare at them even as the glow grew brighter. The golden glow didn’t just come from her hands, it was coming from her entire body. The light grew until it completely bathed the entire room in a golden hue.

“I _am_ Naiyah”, Imogen said, her voice echoing with the chorus of her predecessors.

\---------------

Imogen gasped, sitting bolt upright. It was just a dream. A very realistic dream but a dream nonetheless. She slid out of bed and padded over to her bathroom. She flicked on the light, turned on the tap and splashed her face with the cool water. As she was doing so, the locket softly glowed from where it hung on her mirror.

Imogen dried off her face but didn’t move away from the sink. Instead she just stared at her reflection in the mirror , remnants of the dream bouncing around her head. The drums…power of 12…what did it all mean? What was Naiyah telling her or rather what wasn’t she telling her? Imogen ran a hand through her hair and sighed. There wasn’t any way she was going to get back to sleep now, not with that dream running through her mind.

She needed to talk to someone about it. Martha was out because she was asleep so that left the Doctor. Hopefully he’ll be able to make sense of it. With that in mind, she straightened up and walked out of the bathroom, flicking off the light as she did so. Imogen grabbed her dressing gown from the hook on her way out of her bedroom, pulling it on and tying the ribbon around her waist.

“Ok, TARDIS where’s the Doctor?” she asked. The circle lights along the floor flashed, indicating the direction to go in. Imogen followed the lights through several corridors until she found herself outside the library. She pushed open the door and slipped inside. “Doctor?” she called.

“Over here!” he shouted back from the area with the comfy sofas. Imogen wandered over to see that he was sitting there with a book by Agatha Christie in his hands. He set it aside when she sat down. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

“Not really”, Imogen admitted “I had this dream and I wanted to talk to you about it”.

“I’m all ears”, the Doctor said lifting his arm to indicate for her to sit closer to him. Imogen scooted over, curling up against his side. “What was this dream about?”

“Well to start with I didn’t even realise it was a dream, it felt so real. I was having trouble sleeping because I was thinking about our most recent trip. So I decided to go to the library to see if a little reading would get my mind off it…” Imogen proceed to tell him how 2nd Naiyah appeared and that she led her to this door with the same marking as the engraving on the locket “I opened the door and…” she trailed off, frowning as what happened after seemed suddenly hazy, as if she was forgetting it.

“And…” the Doctor gently pressed.

“I…don’t know”, Imogen said “I can’t make sense of it. It’s kinda like what would happen if you got a paint brush and moved it around a wet painting. What do you think that means?”

“Well, maybe that part of your dream was something that your mind can’t seem to understand, hence the big blur”, the Doctor surmised.

“There was something about what was in that room that I wanted to discuss with you, I’m sure of it”, Imogen insisted “I just…can’t remember”, she grumbled.

“It’ll come back to you”, the Doctor assured her “now come on, lets get you back to bed. Its late and I know how much you like your sleep”. He stood up, gently tugging her to her feet.

“Doctor, you know I’m capable of walking”, Imogen said when he scooped her up and carried her out of the library.

“I know but I wanted to carry you”, the Doctor said “is that a problem?”

“Nope, no problem”, Imogen said relaxing in his hold. He took her back to her room where they both curled up under the blue duvet on her bed.

“Goodnight Gen”, the Doctor said dropping a kiss onto her head. The brunette mumbled back a reply against his chest, already falling back asleep. The Time Lord didn’t really need any sleep himself but supposed it wouldn’t hurt him to get a couple hours of rest especially since he wasn’t going to be able to move for a bit, not that he was complaining. He’d spend all day like this if he could. He closed his eyes and coaxed his body to relax. Pretty soon, he was lightly dozing with Imogen sleeping peacefully in his arms.

\------------

Several hours later saw Martha and Imogen clinging onto the console while the Doctor piloted her through the vortex. The ship landed with a thud moments later. “There we go…perfect landing”, the Time Lord said, pulling on the handbrake “Which isn't easy in such a tight spot”.

“You should be used to tight spots by now”, Martha teased “Where are we?” she asked nodding towards the doors.

“The end of the line”, the Doctor said cryptically “No place like it”. Martha hurried towards the doors, looking at the Doctor and Imogen questionably.

“Go for it”, Imogen said. Martha smiled and pulled open the doors. Her smile dropped when she saw where they were. They were at her home. “Home”, Martha stated, stepping out of the TARDIS, looking around at her home in disappointment “You took me home?”

“In fact, the morning after we left, so you've only been gone about 12 hours” the Doctor said exiting the blue box, followed by Imogen “No time at all, really”.

“But all the stuff we've done. Shakespeare, New New York, old New York?” Martha said.

“We did that all in one night”, Imogen said “sort of”.

“And everything should be just as it was. Books…CDs…laundry. So, back were you were, as promised”, the Doctor said.

“This is it?” Martha asked tentatively.

The Doctor inhaled deeply. He knew that he’d only wanted Martha to come with himself and Imogen for a little while but that didn’t mean that saying goodbye wasn’t going to be hard. “Yeah, we should probably go. One trip is what we said”, he told her.

“Yeah. I suppose things just kind of…escalated”, Martha admitted.

“That kind of thing tends to happen around him a lot”, Imogen said, patting the Doctor on the arm.

“Well, uh…thank you. For everything”, Martha said.

“It was our pleasure”, the Doctor said sincerely. He stepped into the TARDIS, looking back at Imogen who hadn’t moved “coming Gen?”

“In a minute”,  the brunette replied. The Doctor nodded and closed the TARDIS door to give them a little privacy. “Give me your phone”, Imogen said holding out a hand for it. Martha gave her a questioning look before she gave it to her.

Imogen brought up the woman’s contacts and added herself to it. “Now we can stay in touch”, she said giving the phone back.

“You want us to stay in touch?” Martha asked surprised.

“Of course”, Imogen said “What, did you think we were just gonna drop you off and forget about you?”

“Kinda”, Martha confessed, rather pleased that she had Imogen’s number.

“Martha Jones, I’m offended that you’d think I would forget you considering I think of you as a friend despite only knowing you a short time”, Imogen said with a smile. Martha returned her smile. She looked down at her phone.

“I’m thankful to have your number but it can’t be easy to call from a different time period, let alone another planet. I mean surely your phone provider doesn’t give you coverage across galaxies”, Martha remarked.

“Well, it doesn’t”, Imogen said “but –“ she was cut off when Maratha’s home phone rang.

“They can leave a message”, Martha said “you were saying?”

“My phone has got universal roaming”, Imogen explained “I can call anyone from anywhere so long as I know there number”.

“That’s pretty cool”, Martha commented.

“Yep it is”, Imogen agreed.

 _“Martha, are you there? Pick it up, will you?”_ Francine’s voice spoke from Martha’s answering machine _“All right then, pretend that you're out if you like. I was only calling to say that your sister's on TV. On the news of all things. Just thought you might be interested”._

Martha turned on the TV to the news channel to show her sister standing next to an elderly gentleman. The tickertape labelled him as Prof. Lazarus. _“Tonight, I will demonstrate a device. With a push of a single button, I will change what it means to be human”_

Martha and Imogen exchanged looks. “Well, I don’t think we’ll be leaving anytime soon”, the brunette told her before going over to the TARDIS, pushing the door open “Doctor, we’re not going just yet”, she called.

“What? How come?”  the Doctor asked coming over to the doorway.

“Professor Lazarus has just declared that he’s gonna change what it means to be human”, Imogen said, pointing to the TV “seems like something we should look into, no?”

The Doctor looked from the two females to the TV and back. He nodded.


	14. Chapter 14

The Doctor, Martha and Imogen walked down the street now dressed in formal wear. Though the Time Lord wasn’t quite walking in a straight line as he was too busy openly staring at Imogen. Martha couldn’t blame him, the brunette did look rather stunning in the dress that was mysteriously dropped off at her doorstep. All three of them had been surprised, Martha especially since she wasn’t expecting a parcel. The accompanied card didn’t offer any sort of explanation as to who it was from as it was just signed off with a simple K.

The dress itself was almost floor length and completely backless. The colouring was a little unusual. It reminded Martha a little of a sunset. For the Doctor, it made him think of the way the silver trees of his home looked when the sun shone through them, like they were on fire. He felt a pang in his twin hearts at the mere thought of Gallifrey.

He tore his gaze away from his girlfriend and to his cuffs. “Oh, black tie”, he remarked, fiddling nervously with his cuff “Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens”.

“Don’t blame the clothes, you’re the trouble magnet”, Imogen teased, looping her arm through his.

“Though you do look good in it”, Martha added “very James Bond”.

“James Bond? Really?” the Doctor said.

“Yep”, Martha said “which makes us two attractive Bond Girls”, she added, taking his other arm.

“Yes, you are”, the Doctor said, looking at Imogen. The brunette blushed, a dusting a pink appearing on her cheeks. She cleared her throat.

“Well done Martha, his ego was big enough. Now you’ve given it a boost”, she told the black woman.

“Did I?” Martha said ‘innocently’ “Whoops”.

The trio continued down the street toward Lazarus Laboratories. Inside were many guests all mingling together, all dressed in formal garb too. Dominating the room was what appeared to be a large white round chamber with four partly curved pillars surrounding it. “I’m guessing that’s the thing Lazarus is going to be demonstrating”, Imogen commented, nodding towards it.

“Looks like a sonic microfield manipulator”, the Doctor remarked.

“And whats one of those?” Martha asked.

“Well, it uh…looks kinda like that”, the Doctor answered lamely gesturing to the machine.

“Yeah, we know that but whats it do?” Martha questioned.

“Oh that’s easy it....uh…does…” the Doctor glanced over at Imogen for help.

“Oh, no. Don’t look at me”, she said putting her hands up “I have no clue what that does”.

“But you get…’feelings’ about stuff”, the Doctor said.

“You know my ‘feelings’ can happen at any time”, Imogen reminded him “if they happen at all. And as it stands, I haven’t had one about that machine yet. We should just wait and see what it does when they demonstrate it”.

The Doctor was about to say something when Tish joined the trio. “Tish!” Martha said happily and the two sisters hugged.

“You look great”, Tish remarked, stepping back to take in Martha “So, what do you think? Impressive, isn't it?”

“Very”, Martha agreed.

“And two nights out in a row for you”, Tish added “That's dangerously close to a social life”.

Martha laughed “If I keep this up, I'll end up in all the gossip columns”, she joked.

“You might, actually”, Tish told her “You should keep an eye out for photographers. And Mum, she's coming too. Even dragging Leo along with her”.

Martha raised her eyebrows “Leo in black tie?” she said ingeniously “That I must see. Oh! This is the Doctor and Imogen”, Martha added when Tish glanced at the pair.

“Nice to meet you”, Imogen said holding out a hand.

Tish shook it “likewise”, she said “I’m glad you could make it. It wouldn’t have looked good if the guest whom Mr Saxon personally invited didn’t show”.

“Who’s Mr Saxon?” Imogen asked.

“Oh come on, everyone knows who he is”, Tish said.

“Not me. I have been home in a while. Busy traveling with him”, Imogen explained  nodding to the Doctor.

“He’s with you?” Tish questioned.  

“Yep”, Imogen replied.

Tish frowned “But he's not on the list. How did he get in?” she asked.

“He’s my plus one”, Imogen answered.

“So, this Lazarus, he's your boss?” the Time Lord queried.

Tish nodded “Yes. I'm part of his executive staff. Put this whole thing together”, she said.

“So do _you_ know what the professor's going to be doing tonight?” the Doctor asked “I told them…” he nodded to Imogen and Martha “That looks like it might be a sonic microfield manipulator”.

Tish rolled her eyes “of course, he’s a science geek”, she muttered “Should have known. Got to get back to work now” to Martha, she said  “I'll catch up with you later”.

“Science geek? What does that mean?” the Doctor asked wondering whether he should be flattered or insulted.

“That your obsessively enthusiastic about it”, Martha told him.

“Oh”, the Doctor nodded, with a grin “nice”. Suddenly Martha heard her mother’s voice call her name. She turned around to see Francine standing there with her brother, Leo, who was as Tish said, wearing a tux.

“Mum!” Martha said suddenly really happy to see her. When Francine drew near, she gave her a big hug.

“All right, what's the occasion?” Francine asked, surprised by the affection her daughter was showing.

“What do you mean?” Martha questioned stepping back from her mother “I'm just pleased to see you, that's all”.

“You saw me last night”, Francine reminded her.

“I know”, Martha said “I just…miss you” she turned to her brother “You're looking good, Leo”.

“Yeah. If anyone asks me to fetch them a drink, I'll swing for him”, Leo mock warned.

“You disappeared last night”, Francine remarked, eyeing Martha.

“That was my fault Mrs Jones”, Imogen spoke up “I called her away for some advice. I was having…family trouble”. Francine looked at her for a moment before nodding in understanding.

Lazarus taps on his glass, signalling for attention. They all turn to see him standing near the large round machine. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am Professor Richard Lazarus and tonight I am going to perform a miracle”, he announced “It is, I believe, the most important advance since Rutherford split the atom, the biggest leap since Armstrong stood on the moon. Tonight, you will watch and wonder. Tomorrow, you will wake to a world which will be changed forever”.

Everyone watched as he entered the chamber, closing the door behind him. Two female scientists start up the machine. A high pitched whir began as the four columns spin around the machine, creating an energy field. Imogen stared at the machine, an all too familiar sensation washing over her.

“Its gonna go wrong”, she breathed and sure enough a warning claxton sounded, the controls beginning to smoke and spark. The Doctor and Imogen raced over to them, the former pulling out his sonic and using on the controls to figure out how to stop the machine.

“Somebody stop them!” Lady Thaw shouted “Get them away from those controls!"

“If this thing goes up, it'll take the whole building with it. Is that what you want?” Imogen snapped back, frantically searching for a way to turn off the machine too. A suddenly a hand appeared, pointing to a thick cable.

“You want that one”, 2nd Naiyah said.

“Thanks”, Imogen said, grabbing hold and yanking it out. The machine slowed down to a stop. Martha rushed over to the chamber and pulled the door open. The Doctor and Imogen join her and watch as a much looking Lazarus stepped out of the smoke.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am Richard Lazarus. I am seventy six years old and I am reborn!”

He held his arms up in triumph to the applause of the guests. 2nd Naiyah shook her head “oh, he has no idea what he’s just done”, she said.

“What did he just do?” Imogen asked.

“He just changed what it means to be human”, the Doctor replied, thinking she was asking him the question as he hadn’t heard 2nd Naiyah talk.

“I think we need to have a little talk with Lazarus”, Imogen muttered watching the man wander over to some party guests. The Doctor nodded in agreement and the trio made their way over to him just in time to see the man of the hour scarf down some nibbles.

“Richard!” Lady Thaw scolded.

“I'm famished”, Lazarus mumbled around a mouthful of food.

“Energy deficit”, the Doctor stated “Always happens with this kind of process”.

Lazarus swallowed and turned to the Doctor “You speak as if you see this every day, Mr…?”  

“Doctor”, the Time Lord supplied “And well…no…not every day, but I have some experience of this kind of transformation”.

“That's not possible”, Lazarus scoffed.

“Using hypersonic sound waves to create a state of resonance”, the Doctor smoothly countered earning him an impressed look from Lazarus “That's inspired”.

“You understand the theory, then”, he remarked.

“Enough to know that you couldn't possibly have allowed for all the variables”, the Doctor told him.

“No experiment is entirely without risk”, Lazarus said with a shrug.

“That machine nearly exploded”, Imogen spoke up “there’s no way your little experiment was a complete success”.

“But as you can see my dear, it was”, Lazarus said gesturing to himself.

“It may only seem that way for now. You have no idea what kind of…genetic throwback that may occur”, Imogen continued.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Imogen. I look fine and I feel fine”, Lazarus assured her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Imogen saw 2nd Naiyah shake her head “Deluded. Absolutely deluded”, the Time Lady muttered.

“This device will be properly certified before we start to operate commercially”, Lady Thaw informed the trio.

Martha gaped at her “Commercially? You are joking”, she scoffed “That'll cause chaos”.

“Not chaos, change”, Lazarus corrected “A chance for humanity to evolve, to improve”.

The Doctor shook his head “This isn't about improving. This is about you and your customers living a little longer”, he said disdainfully.

“Not a little longer, Doctor. A lot longer. Perhaps indefinitely”, Lazarus said.

“Richard, we have things to discuss, upstairs”, Lady Thaw said, looking at him pointedly and the man nodded.

“Goodbye, Doctor. In a few years, you'll look back and laugh at how wrong you were”, Lazarus said, taking Martha’s hand a pressing a kiss onto the back of it.

“Oh, he's out of his depth. No idea of the damage he might have done”, the Doctor muttered, watching Lazarus leave with Lady Thaw.

“So what do we do now?” Martha asked.

“This place must be chock full of labs. I say we ditch this party and do our own tests”, Imogen replied.

“Well, it’s a good thing I just collected a DNA sample then, isn't it?” Martha said, holding up her hand.

The Doctor grinned “Oh, Martha Jones, you're a star”, he proclaimed.


	15. Chapter 15

The Doctor, Maratha and Imogen stood around a computer screen staring at the results of Lazarus’ DNA test. “Amazing”, the Doctor said.

“What?” Martha asked.

“Lazarus's DNA”, the Time Lord replied.

“I can't see anything different”, Martha said.

“Wait for it”, Imogen said and then just as she said it, the image flickered.

Martha gasped “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed “Did that just change? But it can't have!”

“Yet, it did”, Imogen said.

“It's impossible”, Martha stated, staring at the screen.

“And that's two impossible things we've seen so far tonight”, the Doctor said happily “Don't you love it when that happens?”

Martha frowned “But…that means Lazarus has changed his own molecular patterns”, she said.

“Hypersonic sound waves to destabilise the cell structure, then a metagenic programme to manipulate the coding in the protein strands”, the Doctor explained. At Martha’s confused look, Imogen elaborated, explaining in a simplified manner that she would understand.

“Basically, he hacked into his own genes and instructed them to rejuvenate”

“But they're still mutating now”, Martha said.

“’Cause he missed something. Something in his DNA has been activated and won't let him stabilise. Something that's trying to change him”, the Doctor said.

“A genetic throwback”, Imogen said quietly.

“You said that before when you were trying to warn him”, Martha said “and you said similar things in New York but you never explained why”.

“That’s because we were a little busy at the time”, Imogen said “if you must know, there are things I seem to know when I shouldn’t”.  

“What? You mean like, you’re psychic or something?” Martha questioned.

“Sort of”, Imogen answered “I’ll try to explain it to you later but right now we need to head upstairs, find Lazarus before he hurts anybody”.

\--------

The trio step out of the lift and go into Lazarus’ office. “This is Lazarus’ office”, Martha stated as the Doctor flicked on the light.

“So where is he?” the Doctor asked.

“Not here”, Imogen replied. She then frowned when she spotted a pair of skeletal legs in high heels sticking out from behind the desk. She moved around it and saw that the skeleton was Lady Thaw. “We need to find Lazarus, now”, she said.

“Why?” the Doctor asked, joining her “oh”, he said when he saw the body.

“Is that Lady Thaw?” Martha asked staring at it in horror.  

“It was”, Imogen replied “she’s had all the life energy drained out of her”.

“And…Lazarus did this?” Martha asked tentatively.

“Yep”, Imogen confirmed “and we’ve got to find him before he does this again” and with that she turned and hurried out of the office, Martha and the Doctor following. The trio enter into the lift, the doors closing just as a second lift arrived at their floor, Lazarus and Tish stepping out.

~reception~

“I can't see him”, Martha said looking around the room trying to pick out Lazarus from the party guests.

“He can't be far. Keep looking”, the Doctor said, grabbing Imogen’s hand, pulling her into the crowd “any ‘feelings’?” he asked as they searched for the man.

“Not yet”, Imogen replied, her eyes darting from one formally dresses person after another “perhaps we should split up?” she suggested “might be able to find him faster”.

“Good idea”, the Doctor agreed “just please be careful”.

“I will”, Imogen promised and the pair separated. The brunette weaved her way through the mingling people, looking out for Lazarus. “Sorry”, she said when she accidently bumped into someone.

“No, it’s my fault, the man said “though I’m actually glad I found you Miss Smith. My boss will be pleased to see that you’re wearing his gift”.

Imogen glanced down at the dress and then back at the man “You can tell your boss ‘thanks’ from me”, she said “it’s a very nice dress and surprisingly fits rather well. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to find someone”. She turned to leave when the man grabbed her wrist.

“You need to listen very carefully. My boss believes it’s a good idea for you to distance yourself from the Doctor, he’s dangerous. You continue to be with him and he’ll get you killed”.

Imogen pulled her wrist out of his grip “You can tell your boss that he can take his advice and shove it”, she said, feeling a surge of protectiveness for the Time Lord rise within her “I’m not leaving the Doctor. Not now. Not ever. And if you or your boss even think about hurting him, I would strongly suggest you reconsider because if you want him, you go through me first” she took a step toward him “Is that clear?”

“Yeah, its clear”, the man said, somewhat nervous under her violet gaze.   

“Good”, Imogen said “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a professor to find” and with that she turned and walked away. She continued her search Lazarus, eventually meeting up with the Doctor when she couldn’t find him.

“Any luck?” the Doctor asked.

“Nope”, Imogen replied “I’m starting to think that he’s not on this floor”.

“I think you’re right”,  the Doctor agreed “But where could he be?” he asked. When he didn’t get any answer from the brunette, he glanced at her. She was turned away slightly, talking quietly to seemingly thin air though he knew it was Naiyah she was talking to.

“We got to go to the roof, now”, Imogen said turning to him.

“That’s where Lazarus is?” the Doctor asked.

“Yep. With Tish”, Imogen replied “now where’s Martha?” she questioned, looking around for the medical student.

“There she is”, the Doctor said pointing to where Martha was standing with her brother and mother.

 “Martha we need to go”, Imogen said when she and the Doctor joined the trio “your sister is with Lazarus”.

“What?” Martha said gaping at her.

“We need to go”, Imogen repeated and ushered her away. The Doctor followed after them, accidently spilling Francine’s drink.

“Doctor!” the woman protested. She huffed, setting down her drink on a table and picked up a napkin, dabbing her wet arm.

“I think you need one of these”, a male voice spoke up. Francine looked to her side to see the man that had previously spoken to Imogen was standing there with a fresh glass of champagne.

“Thank you. That's very kind of you”, Francine said taking the bubbly from him.

“Did you know that man?” the man asked “the one called the Doctor?”

 “No. He's a friend of my daughter's”, Francine replied.

“Perhaps she should choose her friends more carefully”, the man suggested before walking off.

~the roof~

By the time the Doctor, Martha and Imogen got to the roof, Lazarus was standing fairly close to Tish and was quoting TS Eliot. “…falls the shadow”, the Time Lord said, finishing the quote.

“So the mysterious Doctor knows his Eliot. I'm impressed”, Lazarus remarked.

“Martha, what are you doing here?” Tish asked stepping forward.

“Tish, get away from him”, Martha lightly ordered.

“What? Don't tell me what to do”, Tish retorted.

“Tish, I highly suggest you do what your sister says”, Imogen said “The professor is not a healthy as he appears” when Tish didn’t move, she added “Tish, please trust me. He’s not safe”.

“Of course you’d be on her side”, Tish scoffed. She turned to her sister “You have to spoil everything, don't you Martha? Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault”.

“Tish, he's a monster!” Martha argued. Imogen glanced behind Tish’s back to see Lazarus begin to spasm. He was about to change again. She darted forward, grabbing Tish’s wrist.

“Let go!” Tish exclaimed.

“Considering your boss is about to change, the answer is no”, Imogen countered. She looked at the Doctor and Martha “now comes the part where we run”, she deadpanned. The four of them took off across the roof toward the door they’d just come through, Imogen holding onto Tish’s wrist tightly.

The Doctor yanked the door open and ushered the women through before he stepped inside, sonicing the door behind him. “Are you okay?” Martha asked her sister after pressing the button for the lift.

“I think so”, Tish replied “what kind of monster was he about to change into?”

“We don’t know”, Imogen said “but he’s already killed Lady Thaw”.

Tish opened her mouth to say something when there was a loud bang on the door, setting alarms off.

 _Security one. Security one. Security one_ came over the tannoy before the lights all went out and the doors on their floor closed.

“What's happening?” Martha asked.

“An intrusion. It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits”, Tish explained.

“The stairs!” the Doctor shouted and they made a break for them. As they pelted down the stairs they all heard a distant crash of a door.

“He's inside!” Martha cried.

“We haven't got much time!” the Doctor added. Imogen bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from coming out with a sarcastic remark.

~Reception~

“Tish is there another way out of here?” the Doctor asked the moment  they all reached the reception area.

“There's an exit in the corner, but it'll be locked now”, Tish replied, pointing over to it.

“Martha, setting fifty four”, the Doctor said, tossing his sonic to Martha “Hurry”. He then jumped up onto the platform in front Lazarus’ machine. “Listen to me! You people are in serious danger! You need to get out of here right now!” he said loudly.  

“Don't be ridiculous. The biggest danger here is choking on an olive”, a woman said not believing him. Suddenly the mutated Lazarus decided to make an appearance, jumping down from above. That made chaos quite literally break out in the room.

“Mum, get back!” Leo shouted at his mother before Lazarus sent a table flying with his tail, the piece of furniture slamming into him.

“Leo!”  Francine cried. Lazarus closed in on the snobbish woman who’d made the olive remark, the female unable to move as she was frozen in fear. However, he didn’t have a change to attack the woman when a plate came soaring through the air, striking him.

“You didn’t like that, did you freak?” Imogen taunted “Your just a fool. A vain old man who thought he could defy nature” the Doctor held his tongue as his girlfriend as she riled up Lazarus. Part of him wanted to chime in. The other, more protective part wanted to make her stop. But he didn’t neither as he was fully aware that she was capable of looking after herself. Plus she wouldn’t be purposefully making him angry unless she had a plan. “Only Nature got her own back, didn't she?” Imogen sneered “You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!”

Imogen then darted off out of the reception hall “Stay with Martha!” the brunette shouted at the Doctor when he made to follow. She ran through a service hall filled with pipes, kicking off her shoes as she went because they were making far too much noise on the hard floor.

“It's no good, Miss Smith. You can't stop me”, Lazarus hissed from somewhere behind her.

“I’ve been known to do the impossible”, Imogen said crouching down by a pipe, looking around for the monster that Lazarus has become. Not easy when the hall was pitch black “so trust me when I say I _will_ stop you”.

She started off again, only getting a short distance before the lights flickered on. Imogen stopped and looked around, not seeing Lazarus. “Peek a boo”, he said above her. Imogen looked up and saw him hanging from the ceiling. Without saying a word, she took off down the corridor, Lazarus chasing after her.

~Laboratory~

Imogen skidded into a lab. “Ok, now what?” she muttered.

“Time to make a big kaboom”, 2nd Naiyah said, sitting on one of the lab benches.

“That really wise?” Imogen asked going over to the gas taps and turning them all on as quick as she could.

“Nope but it’ll be fun”, the Time Lady said with a grin.

“Figures you’d be a pyromaniac considering your best friends with the Doctor”, Imogen remarked as she clambered up on to a bench to play with one of the light fittings. She might not have been an expert in blowing things up but thanks to science lessons at school, she was well aware that gas can ignite with a small spark.

She slid off the lab bench, ducking down. A moment later Lazarus entered. “Jeez, he’s one ugly beasty”, Naiyah commented, joining her on the floor. Imogen shot her a ‘you don’t say’ look.

“More hide and seek, Miss Smith?” Lazarus asked “How disappointing. Why don't you come out and face me?”

“Well, if you insist”, Imogen said standing up “hiya”, she greeted cheekily, waggling her fingers. Lazarus roared and lunged for her. Imogen quickly moved to the slide and sprinted for the door. She reached out and flicked on the light switch. The spark from the now broken light ignited the gas in the room, causing an explosion. The force threw Imogen to the floor. She rolled over, sitting up and staring at the flame engulfed lab. “Blimey, that was one big kaboom”, she breathed.


	16. Chapter 16

 

Imogen pushed herself to her feet and took off down the corridor. She turned the corner and almost collided with the Doctor. “What are you doing here?” she asked “I thought I told you to stay with Martha”.

“I did”, the Doctor said “but the second Martha was safe, I went to find you”.

“And how did you find me?” Imogen questioned.

“I heard the explosion and I figured I was you”, the Doctor replied.

“Yeah…I kinda blew up a lab with Lazarus in it”, Imogen admitted.

“And did you kill him?” the Time Lord pressed. Before Imogen could answer, they heard Lazarus making a lot of racket down the corridor.

“I think I’ve pissed him off even more”, Imogen said. The pair took off down the corridor.

“What happened to your shoes? You didn’t throw them at Lazarus did you?” the Doctor asked as they ran.

“Nope. Had to take them off. Too noisy”, Imogen answered.

~Reception~

“Now where?” Imogen asked the moment they reached the reception.

“Into Lazarus’ machine”, the Doctor replied, taking hold of her hand and leading her over to it.

“Of all the places we could be hiding, this has to be one of the worst”, Imogen stated.

“We’re not hiding”, the Doctor corrected “Lazarus knows we’re in here but this is his masterpiece. I'm betting he won't destroy it, not even to get at us”.

“I wouldn’t be so confident, I did try to blow him up remember?” Imogen reminded him “so please tell me that you’ve got a plan as to why we’re jammed in here like a couple of sardines?”

“I’m…working on it”, the Doctor confessed.

“That sounded really confident”, Imogen sassed.

“Well, you could help with one of your ‘feelings’”, the Doctor told her.

“You know, I can’t make them happen”, Imogen shot back “I wish I could have some control over them but I don’t. And I hate it”, she admitted quietly. The Doctor looked at her a little surprised. She’d never admitted that to him before.

“You never told me that”, the Doctor said.

“Because I thought I could deal with it on my own and I didn’t want to worry you”, Imogen confessed.  

“You don’t have to deal anything on your own. So next time, please tell me”, the Doctor said gently.

“Ok, I will”, Imogen promised “and…I’m sorry for not telling you”.

“It’s ok”, the Doctor said leaning his forehead against hers.

Imogen’s violet eyes widened when she suddenly got the familiar sensation of a ‘feeling’ coming over her. She pulled back from the Doctor “reverse the polarity”, she said.

The Doctor looked at her for a moment before he grinned “you beautiful…clever…impossible girl”, he declared giving her a quick kiss before he took out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and slid his way down to the floor. Imogen shifted out of his way as best as she could which wasn’t easy as the machine wasn’t exactly built for two.

The Time Lord popped open a panel and started to mess around with the wires underneath. Suddenly a blue light filled the capsule followed by a low, ominous hum. “I think he’s just figured out how to turn the machine on”, Imogen stated.

“Damn. I was hoping it was going to take him a little bit longer to work that out”, the Doctor muttered, working quicker.

“Hurry”, Imogen urged hearing the humming get louder as the machine spins faster.

“Just one more”, the Doctor said and yanked out a wire. Instead of the energy being blasted at them, it was thrown outward, hitting Lazarus, forcing him to change back to his human form. A split second later the machine powered down.  The Doctor pushed open the door and stepped out, followed by Imogen. “Really shouldn't take that long just to reverse the polarity. I must be a bit out of practice”, the Doctor remarked.

Imogen just ignored him, edging around the machine to look at Lazarus. “This should never have happened to you”, she said quietly. She spied a cloth draped over a table and pulled it off, laying it over Lazarus’ body.

The Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder “come on”, he said and led her away from the body.

\----------

The pair stand on the steps watching the EMT’s cart Lazarus’ body off in an ambulance. “That was an incredibly risky thing you did”, Francine scolded Imogen “riling up that thing. You could’ve been killed!” she rounded on the Doctor “as for you…” the black woman slapped him across the face, hard “keep away from my daughter and Imogen”.

“Mum, what are you doing?” Martha exclaimed, shocked by her mother’s actions.

“All of the mothers, every time”, the Doctor mumbled clutching his cheek. Imogen moved his hand away to check it.

“Its not bad, just a bit red”, she told him. She pressed a kiss to his sore cheek “better?”

The Doctor smiled at her “much”, he said.

“He is dangerous. I've been told things”, Francine said to Martha, bringing the Doctor and Imogen’s  attention back onto them.

“What are you talking about?” Martha asked, confused.

“Look around you! Nothing but death and destruction!” Francine said angrily.

“This isn't his fault. He saved us, all of us!” Martha argued.

“And it was Tish who invited everyone to this thing in the first place”, Leo spoke up “I'd say technically, it's her fault”. That earned him a sharp elbow in the side from Tish. Suddenly there was a loud crash. The Doctor exchanged looks with both Martha and Imogen before he took off to investigate. The violet eyes girl didn’t hesitate to run after him. Martha tried to follow but her mother held her back.

“Leave him”, Francine said. Martha shook her head, tugging her arm out of her mother’s grip. “Not you, too”, she complained when Tish hurried after sister.

“Sorry!” Tish called back.

A little ways down the street they found the ambulance, the back doors wide open. Lazarus was gone and the two EMT’s were like Lady Thaw, a lifeless husk. “Of course that would stop him”, Imogen muttered “Lazarus. The name says it all”.

“Where's he gone?” Martha asked as the Doctor took out his sonic to scan for Lazarus.

“That way. The church”, the Doctor said pointing in the direction the sonic was indicating.

“Cathedral. It's Southwark Cathedral. He told me”, Tish explained.

~Southwark Cathedral~

“Do you think he's in here?” Martha asked as the entered the Cathedral.

“Where would you go if you were looking for sanctuary?” the Doctor asked from in front.

“I’d go to the attic at my house”, Imogen replied “but a church is also a good place to go if your looking for somewhere safe”. They group walked through the empty Cathedral, stopping by the altar as Lazarus was sitting behind it, swaddled in the red blanket that the EMT’s had wrapped him in.

“I came here before, a lifetime ago”, Lazarus spoke up, having heard them approach “I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child…the sound of planes and bombs outside”.

“The Blitz”, the Doctor said.

“You've read about it”, Lazarus remarked.

“I was there”, the Doctor told him.

“You're too young”, Lazarus scoffed, not knowing that the Time Lord was far older than he appeared.

“So are you”, the Doctor countered earning a laugh from the man which quickly turned into gasps of pain as he tried to hold off from changing again.

“In the morning, the fires had died, and I was still alive”, Lazarus continued “I swore I'd never face death like that again. So defenceless. I would arm myself, fight back, defeat it”.

“That's what you were trying to do today?” the Doctor asked. Imogen’s eyes flickered up at the bell tower and then over to the organ.

“That's what I did today”, Lazarus corrected.

“What about the other people who died?” Imogen asked looking back at the bell tower again. The Doctor and Martha noted the way she was looking at it, both knowing that she must’ve just had a ‘feeling’.

“They were nothing”, Lazarus said harshly “I changed the course of history”.

“But they might have done the same too”, Imogen pointed out, moving around to look at him face to face “Facing death is part of being human. You can't change that”.

Lazarus shook his head “No, Miss Smith. Avoiding death, that's being human. It's our strongest impulse, to cling to life with every fibre of being. I'm only doing what everyone before me has tried to do. I've simply been more…successful”.

“You call this being successful?” Imogen asked “You’ve turned yourself into a monster! And for what? So you can be young again? Live longer?”

“You’re just a child Miss Smith, you wouldn’t understand”, Lazarus said scornfully before he groaned and convulsed.

“But I do understand”, the Doctor said coming to stand beside Imogen “I'm old enough to know that a longer life isn't always a better one. In the end, you just get tired. Tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything turn to dust”, the Time Lord squats down beside Lazarus “If you live long enough, Lazarus, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone”.

“That's a price worth paying”, Lazarus told him.

“Is it?” the Doctor asked.

“I will feed soon”, Lazarus warned.

“I'm not going to let that happen”, the Doctor said.

“You've not been able to stop me so far”, Lazarus reminded him.

“Oh, don’t bother with him Lazarus”, Imogen said “he’s old and bitter. Wouldn’t you prefer something a little…younger?” and with that she took off toward the staircase that would get her to the upper level “get to the organ!” she hollered back to the Doctor “What are you two doing?” the brunette asked when she realised that both Tish and Martha had followed her.  

“Keeping you out of trouble!” Martha told her.

“Hope you like a challenge then”, Imogen said.

The trio pelted up the narrow spiral staircase, Lazarus chasing after them. “Did you hear that?” Tish asked when they heard screaming.

“He’s changed”, Imogen panted “we’ve got to keep moving. Gotta get him up to the tower”. The females hit the landing at a run but none of them slowed down as they knew the second they did that, they’d be monster food. When they reached the bell tower, they found that it consisted of a circular wooden walkway and railings.  

“There's nowhere to go. We're trapped!” Tish exclaimed.

“We’re not trapped Tish, we’re the distraction”, Imogen amended.

“Ladies”, Lazarus hissed, now in his mutant scorpion form, his large size blocking the only way in or out of the tower. Imogen barely had a chance to pull the sisters out of the way when Lazarus lashed out with his tail. He tried to attack them several times but somehow Imogen was able to dodge them, all the while protecting Martha and Tish. The brunette had no clue how she was doing it though. It was almost like it wasn’t she wasn’t in the ‘drivers seat’.

Then there came the deafening sound of the organ, making Imogen, Martha and Tish press their hands over their ears, dropping to their knees. Lazarus writhed on the spot before he topped over the edge, falling to the floor below. Almost immediately the music…if you could call it that…stopped. Imogen, Martha and Tish breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against one another.

“Thanks Imogen”, Tish said.

“No problem”, Imogen said, patting her on the arm.

“Gen!” they heard the Doctor shout.

“I’m fine!” she shouted back “we’re all fine!” Imogen rubbed a hand over her face, tiredly “though I could really do with a nice cuppa and a hot bath. My feet are killing me”.

“No wonder. You’ve been running around with nothing on your feet”, Martha commented “first the Doctor, now you. This isn’t going to become some kind of habit I hope?”

Imogen glanced at her feet “god I hope not”, she reached down and rubbed one of them “I’m just lucky I didn’t step on anything sharp”.

“Very lucky”, Martha agreed.

“You know, if this doesn’t get the Doctor to agree to let you stay on with us as a travelling companion, I’ll eat a pear”, Imogen told her.

“You really think he’ll let me stay now?” Martha asked hopeful.

“Well, if he doesn’t, I’ll convince him”, Imogen assured her “And then eat the pear”. She shuddered at the thought of the fruit.

“Don’t like pears?” Tish asked.

“Nope. They’re evil, just like beans”, Imogen replied. Martha looked at her incredulously “what? Beans are bad”, the brunette stated “bad, bad beans”.

“You are so strange sometimes”, Martha remarked.


	17. Chapter 17

 

“I cannot believe you ate the pear”, Martha remarked watching Imogen down a glass of orange juice to get rid of the taste of the evil fruit.

“I did say I would”, the brunette reminded her, setting the glass down.

“True but I never thought you’d do it”, Martha said “as you hate them so much”.

“Well…” Imogen drawled, mimicking the Doctor and earing a chuckle from Martha “I wouldn’t eat a pear for just anyone. Only people I’d consider a good friend”. The trainee doctor smiled at those words. The brunette had claimed that she was a friend before but it was nice to hear her say it again. “Now!” she rubbed her hands together “how about we go find you a room then?”

“Sounds good to me”, Martha agreed. The pair left the kitchen and wandered down the corridor.

“I have to warn you, this place can be a bit of a maze but if you ask the TARDIS nicely, she’ll point you in the direction you want to go”, Imogen explained as they walked.

“Have you seen everything in this ship?” Martha questioned.

“Nope”, Imogen replied “I’m finding something new in here on a daily basis”.

As the two females nattered, they unknowingly passed by the Doctor. He watched them go with mixed feelings. He was glad that Martha was onboard and that she and Imogen were bonding. However, he was also sad too because the black woman’s presence was a reminder that Rose was no longer with them. And he missed Rose deeply. He knew Imogen did too even if she tried to keep it to herself. In all honesty he should’ve said ‘no’ to Martha joining them as a companion but Imogen had made a pretty compelling argument. His girlfriend seemed happier with the trainee doctor around and that’s all that really mattered to him, her happiness. Along with her safety of course. Which is why he agreed to let Martha stay on for longer. He just hoped he wasn’t going to regret it later. The Doctor turned and headed off in the opposite direction, him mind now going to all the possible repairs he needed to do.

\----------

Imogen tapped her pencil on the blank page wondering what to draw. “Penny for your thoughts?” the Doctor spoke up, making her jump. “Sorry”, he said apologetically, sitting down on the sofa and plonked her feet which were propped up on the piece of furniture, into his lap.

“That’s ok”, Imogen said waving off his apology “I’m just thinking of what to draw but I’m coming up blank”.

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something”, the Doctor said, trying to sound positive “in the meantime…how’s Martha settling in?”

“She’s settling in fine”, Imogen replied “we’ve found her a room and she’s just getting some rest at the…” the brunette yawned “moment”.

“Sounds like she’s not the only one who could do with a rest”, the Doctor remarked.

“Yeah, I guess I could do with a snooze”, Imogen admitted. She _was_ tired but she also wanted to do a bit of drawing and well…drawing won out. Her tiredness was probably why she was hitting a brick wall, so to speak, in what to sketch next.

“Well, come on then”, the Doctor said getting up, plucking her sketch book from her hands. Imogen got up, the Time Lord taking hold of her hand with his free one and leading her out of the library. They walked to Imogen’s room where she stepped into the adjoining bathroom and dressed into her PJ’s which she’d grabbed on the way.

“Would you mind staying?” Imogen asked as she unclasped the locket from around her neck, carefully setting it down on her bedside table.

“No, I don’t mind”, the Doctor replied. He did have some more repairs he needed to get done but he supposed they could wait a bit. The Doctor took off his converse, suit jacket and tie before getting under the covers with Imogen.

“Thanks”, the brunette murmured already drifting off.

“You’re welcome”, the Doctor said knowing that she probably didn’t hear him as she was already asleep.

\---------------

The next day saw the TARDIS still in the time vortex, waiting for a destination. Inside, Martha and Imogen were watching the Doctor sonic Martha’s phone. “There we go! Universal Roaming”, the Time Lord said, handing the phone back “Never have to worry about a signal again”.

Martha glanced at Imogen who gave her a ‘go on, try it’ look. She started to dial as the Doctor proceeded to press buttons on the console. Suddenly the TARDIS jolts, throwing all three of them to the floor. Imogen pulls Martha to her feet as the Doctor gets up, the scanner now flashing red. “We’ve picked up an SOS”, the violet eyed girl remarked.

“So we have”, the Doctor agreed “Locking on”, he added, activating a switch with his foot. “Might be a bit of…” the ship jolted for a second time, sending just the Doctor to the floor. Imogen remained on her feet as she’d thankfully grabbed hold of the console in time. She also stopped Martha from falling by grabbing the black woman’s hand.

“Thanks”, Martha said to Imogen.

“No problem”, the young Smith said.

“Lets go find out where we are”, the Doctor said jumping to his feet and running for the door. The two females followed after him. The three of them stepped out into what could be described as an oven. “Whoa! now that is hot!” the Time Lord exclaimed.

“You said it”, Imogen agreed, really wishing she was wearing shorts instead of jeans. Martha shrugged off her leather jacket and left it in the TARDIS. There was no way she’d need it out here, it was boiling!

The Doctor bent down to check out several pieces of equipment “Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down…” he straightens up “Uh, where-ever it is we are “Well! if you can't stand the heat…” he walked over to a heavy duty door, opens it and steps through.

“That’s much better”, Martha remarked as they moved into a slightly cooler area.

"Oi, you three!" a young man shouted at them as he another man and a woman come running up to them.

"Get out of there!" the woman added. The two men quickly close the door as the Doctor, Martha and Imogen stood there confused. "Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" the woman demanded.

"Are you police?" one of the men asked.

"Why would we be police?" the Doctor asked still a little confused.

“We received an SOS from this vessel”, Imogen told the trio .

“If this is a ship, why can’t I hear any engines?” the Doctor questioned.

"It went dead four minutes ago", the woman replied.

"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. Captain", the second man said directing the word captain at the woman they'd come with.

"Secure closure active", a computer voice said. Another woman runs towards them as bulkheads slam shut behind her.

"Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area twenty seven", she said breathing heavily from running. "Who are you?" she asked looking at the three newcomers.

“I’m Imogen, this is the Doctor and Martha”, Imogen replied.

“Hello”, Martha said, almost distractedly as something has caught her attention out of the small window.

_Impact projection forty two minutes twenty seven seconds_

“Forty two minutes until what?” Imogen asked. Before the Captain or any of her shipmates could answer, Martha had called both the Doctor and Imogen over, rather loudly. They joined her by the porthole and looked out. “Oh boy”, Imogen breathed staring at a large firey ball of gas looming outside.

“Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun”, the Captain said seriously.

"How many crew members on board?" the Doctor asked trying to keep calm. Panicking wasn't going to help anyone.

"Seven, including us", the Captain replied.

"Call the others, I'll get you out", the Doctor said running to the door to area 30. He opens the door and is knocked down by the blast of heat. The short haired woman puts on a welder's mask and shuts it again.

"But my ship's in there!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"In the vent chamber?" the first man asked.

"It's our lifeboat", the Doctor explained.

"Its lava", the second man said.

"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds, and still rising", the short haired woman added.

"Channelling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get", the first man explained.

"We're stuck here", Martha said bitterly.

“Temporarily”, Imogen said lightly “all we need to do is fix the engines and steer the ship away from the sun. Simple!”

“Have you ever fixed ship engines before?” the Captain said, eyeing the young woman sceptically.

“Nope!” Imogen said, popping the p “first time for everything though. So which way to engineering?”

The captain pointed in the right direction and Imogen strolled off the way she was pointing, the Doctor and Martha close behind. When they all got to engineering, the group stopped dead. The place was a mess! “You’ve had some cowboys in here, not actual ones”, Imogen commented “though…that can happen”, she added as an afterthought.

“Someone clearly knew what they were doing”, the Doctor remarked eyeing the damage.

"Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?" the Captain suddenly asked.

"No", the second man replied. The woman goes over to the intercom and presses a button.

"Korwin, Ashton? Where are you?” no answer “Korwin, can you answer?” still no answer. The Captain walked away from the intercom “Where the hell is he?” she demanded “He should be up here!”

The Doctor put on his glasses and looked at a screen "Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely. You're a long way from home, Martha, Gen Half a universe away", he said.

"Yeah. Feels it", Martha said sarcastically.

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?" the Doctor asked the woman whom one of the men called captain.

"We're due to upgrade next docking", she replied "Scannell, engine report".

"No response", Scannell replied looking at the same screen as the Doctor. He ran to the wrecked engine "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online", Scannell said.

"Oh, come on. Auxiliary engines. Every craft's got auxiliaries", the Doctor said taking off his glasses.

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship", the female captain explained.

"Yeah, with twenty nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time", Scannell added.

"Can't you override the doors?" Martha asked.

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed", Scannell replied.

“Sonic’s no good then”, the Doctor muttered, annoyed by that.

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance", Scannell said sounding despondent.

“Oh, don’t be such a negative Norman”, Imogen said, making the Doctor smirk at her sass “look at you lot, you’ve given up before you’ve even started! Who’s got the door passwords?”

"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti", Riley piped up.

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it", the Doctor said. "Well, it's a two person job. One, a technish for the questions, and the other to carry this", Riley said picking up a large clamp and a backpack "The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh, Captain?"

"Reliable and simple, just like you, eh, Riley?" the captain quipped.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice", Riley griped.

“I’ll give you a hand Riley”, Imogen said, taking the clamp from him “and I’m sure I can help you with some of the questions too”.

“You better take care of her”, the Doctor said seriously to Riley.

Imogen rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness “we’ll take care of each other”, she assured him. The pair of them left, the Doctor watching them go.


	18. Chapter 18

It didn’t take them long to reach the first locked door where Riley quickly typed something into a keypad. “Fix the clamp on”, he instructed to Imogen, who did so.

“What are you typing?” she questioned.

“Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew”, Riley replied “Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was, if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers”.

“That’s pretty smart”, Imogen remarked.

“Yeah, it is. However, we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes”, Riley continued.

“We better not get it wrong then”, Imogen said. She watched him go over to a readout screen and read the first question aloud.

“’Date of SS Pentallian's first flight?’ That's all right”, he said happily, typing in the answer “go!” he ordered Imogen. She pressed the ‘trigger’ button on the clamp. It beeps a few times, the lights on top of the clamp turns green and the doors open.

“One down twenty eight more to go”, Imogen stated, hauling the clamp off the door. The pair hurry through the door and onto the next one.

 _“Gen? Riley? How are you doing?”_ came the Doctor’s voice over the intercom as they neared door 28.

“Area twenty nine, at the door to twenty eight”, Imogen answered.

 _“You’ve gotta move faster”_ the Time Lord urged.

“We’re doing our best”, Imogen told him, putting the clamp onto the next door.

“’Find the next number in the sequence 313, 331,367…’” Riley trailed off “I-I don’t know the answer”.

“379”, Imogen told him.

“Are you sure?” Riley questioned “we only get one chance”.

 _“Just enter the number Riley”_ the Doctor called.

“Trust me, it’s the right answer”, Imogen added. Riley looked at her for a moment before putting in the number. The light on the clamp turned green for the second time and the door opened. “We’re through”, Imogen reported.

 _“Keep moving. Fast as you can”_ the Doctor said _“And Gen, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship”_ he added in a quieter tone.

“Will do. And if I get any feelings, I’ll let you know”, Imogen said.

 _“That’s all I ask”_ the Doctor said.

The brunette pulled the clamp off the door and followed Riley to the next door. She repeated her actions of putting the device onto the metal and waited for Riley to answer the question. “Riley? What’s wrong?” she asked seeing him look rather distressed, head in his hands.

“This question is impossible”, he mumbled.

Imogen moved over as far as she could all the while keeping her hands on the clamp “’Who had the most pre-download number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles?’” she read aloud “that’s easy. It’s Elvis”.

Riley typed it in and a split second later the light on the clamp turned green, the door opening. “You weren’t wrong about being able to help”, the man remarked.

Imogen stiffened when she felt a familiar sensation come over her. This one had her rushing to the nearest intercom. “Doctor get to the medical bay now!” she ordered.

 _“A feeling?”_ the Time Lord asked.

“Yes, now go!” the brunette shouted before cutting off her connection.

“Why did you want him to go to the medical bay?” Riley questioned.

“Because your friend is about to be in some serious danger”, Imogen answered “and before ask, I don’t have time to explain now. However, I will do once we’ve got the auxiliaries back online and we’re safely away from the sun. I realise this is a big ask considering that you barely know me but I need you to trust me, please”.

Riley looked at the brunette. He could see in her eyes that she wanted him to trust her… that she needed him to trust her. “Ok”, he said quietly.

Imogen gave him a small smile “Come on. We’ve got to get onto the next door”, she said.

Riley nodded and they continued on. They’d just gotten through the door when the intercom crackled to life. _“Gen, we got Abi out of the med bay”_ , the Doctor reported making Imogen breath a sigh of relief.

“Good. That’s good”, the brunette said “we’re about to go onto door 26”.

 _“You’ve got to hurry. Time’s not on our side”_ , the Time Lord reminded her.

“I know. We’ll get there before the time runs out, I promise”, Imogen assured him. She turned to Riley “Onwards”, she said.

The two of them quickly fell into a routine as they went from door to door. They were making pretty good progress, that is until they reached door 17. “Come on!” Riley exclaimed, hitting the terminal.

“You know that almost never helps”, Imogen remarked “You should never use force, you’ll only embarrass yourself”, she added, repeating what she said to the Doctor after he kicked the console in frustration when they were stuck in the parallel earth.

“What do you suggest I do then?” Riley asked, rubbing his hand grumpily.

“Well, you could…” Imogen trailed off when they heard a bang behind them.

“Who’s there?” Riley called. There was a second bang and they put their gear down to go investigate. They watched a figure emerge from the smoke, wearing a heavy duty space helmet. “Ashton, what are you doing?” Riley asked, having recognised him. Imogen on the other hand didn’t need to have a ‘feeling’ to know that something was very wrong with the man.

Her fears were confirmed when he spoke in he very deep, sinister voice “Burn with me”. Ashton raised his hand to lift up the eye shield when Imogen darted forward, grabbing his wrist.

“I don’t think so matey boy”, she said “neither of us are going to ‘burn with you’, you got that?” she got no response from Ashton “Now, we can help. All you have to do is tell us what you want”.

Ashton still didn’t respond. The pair looked stared at each other for several moments before the man suddenly pushed her. Imogen stumbled, falling onto her backside. She stared up at Ashton as he slowly lifted up his visor…

Riley had to turn away, shielding his eyes as the light grew too bright. He heard Imogen scream. Then it all went silent. Riley slowly turned back to see both Imogen and Aston on the floor. He went over to his friend first, his head dropping when he couldn’t find a pulse. Riley moved onto Imogen and tentatively touched his wrist. _Oh thank god_ he thought relieved when he could her pulse thrumming under his fingers, albeit a little erratically.

He dashed over to the comms “Doctor, something’s happened to Imogen”, Riley said quickly.

 _“What’s happened?”_ the Doctor asked. Riley was about to answer when Imogen started screaming again. Upon hearing it, the Time Lord took off, Martha following close behind.

\----------------

The Doctor skidded to a stop next to the violet eyed girl. He scanned her with his sonic and his twin hearts dropped when the results showed that whatever had been in habiting Korwin was now inside his impossible girl. “Doctor?” Imogen whimpered.

“I’m here”, he said softly, taking her hand.

“It’s alive”, she whispered “the sun’s alive” Imogen held out her other hand “Martha”.

“I’m here too Gen”, the black woman assured her, taking hold of her hand.

“You have to go with Riley and dump the fuel”, Imogen instructed “it’s the only way to stop the ship from falling into the sun”.

Martha nodded and stood up “come on Riley”, she said. As soon she and Riley were gone, the Doctor gathered Imogen into his arms, holding her against his chest.

“You hold on, do you hear me?” he ordered “you don’t stop fighting”.

“I-I won’t”, Imogen promised.  

Minutes passed and the Doctor still held onto Imogen even though she was starting to shake violently. “You should go”, she stammered “I don’t want to hurt you”. She could feel the sun’s influence growing stronger and it was making her more terrified that she was going to hurt the Doctor.

“You won’t”, the Doctor assured her “and I would never leave you, no matter what”.

Suddenly Imogen gasped, her entire body tensing up before she went limp in the Doctor’s arms. The Time Lord quickly scanned her and breathed a sigh of relief when the device showed that her vitals were back to normal. Then the comms crackeled to life.

 _“Doctor we did it. The fuel is dumped and we’re heading away from the sun”_ Martha reported happily _“How’s Gen?”_

“She’s alright. Thanks to both you and Riley”, the Doctor said. He dropped a kiss onto Imogen’s temple “I love you Gen”, he murmured.


	19. Chapter 19

Imogen tapped her pencil against her sketch pad, utterly bored. Two months. Two months of being stuck inside the TARDIS while the Doctor played human at an all-boys school. _Damn Family of Blood_ she mentally griped. If they didn’t have such good senses, she’d be out there too making sure the Doctor was safe instead of relying on Martha. Not that she didn’t think Martha would be capable of keeping an eye on him, it was just that the woman didn’t have her gift of ‘feelings’ if you can call it that.

Imogen sighed, putting her sketch book and pencil aside. “I gotta get out of here”, she muttered to herself. Even though it was a risk, she just had to get out for a breather. If she didn’t then she was going to go stir crazy. The brunette went into the vast wardrobe and picked out a dress suitable for 1913. It was of a simple design, floor length and of a similar colour to her eyes. Imogen twisted her hair into a basic bun and tucked her locket under the dress. She didn’t bother to change her shoes as the dress covered them. Imogen then left the TARDIS, ignoring the noises of protest from the ship.

She walked through the little village, smiling to herself at the freedom after being cooped up for so long. In another part of the village, the Doctor and Joan were strolling along, chatting.

“His name was Oliver. He died in the battle of Spy-On-Cope”, Joan explained “We were childhood sweethearts…But you see, I was angry with the army for such a long time”.

“You still are”, the Doctor stated.

“I find myself as part of that school watching boys learn how to kill”, Joan continued.

“Don't you think discipline is good for them?” the Doctor asked.

“Does it have to be such military discipline? I mean, if there's another war those boys won't find it so amusing”, Joan told him.

“Well…Great Britain is at peace, long may it reign”, the Doctor said.

“In your journal, in one of your stories, you wrote about next year. Nineteen fourteen. All those images of mud and wire. You told of a shadow. A shadow falling across the entire world”, Joan reminded him.

“Well then, we can be thankful it's not true”, the Doctor said cheerfully “And I'll admit mankind doesn't need warfare and bloodshed to prove itself. Everyday life can provide honour and valour, and…let's hope that from now on this, this country…can find its heroes in smaller places…” he trailed off when something caught his attention. A rope sling holding a piano aloft was starting to break despite the workman’s attempts to try and hold it. At the same time, a young woman with a pram is coming around the corner, completely unaware of the danger above. “In the most… “ the Doctor looked from the rope to the young boy who was playing with a cricket ball “ordinary…” the second strand of the rope is almost completely broken and the piano lurches violently “Of deeds!” he snatched the cricket ball from the boy and was about to throw it when another young woman in a purple dress pulled the other one out of the way, taking the pram with her. A second later, the piano landed on the ground, smashing into pieces.

“That was lucky”, Joan remarked, eyeing the scene.

“Yeah…lucky”, the Doctor agreed. There was something about the mother’s saviour….something familiar “I’ll be right back”, he said.

“What?” Joan asked, surprised.

“I’ll be right back”, the Doctor repeated. Eyes trained on the brunette in the purple dress, he walked towards her and the young mother. As if she’d sensed him, the young woman looked up at him. The Doctor stalled, his heart beating faster at the sight of the woman he’d been dreaming about for months. She was real! Without warning the woman took off. The Doctor chased after her.

 _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ Imogen mentally berated herself as she ran. Why did she leave the TARDIS? Why? Of course something like this was going to happen. “Miss wait!” she heard the Doctor call but she just ignored him. Imogen darted out into a road at the same time a car approached.

Luckily a pair of arms grabbed her and pulled her out of the way. She and her saviour tumbled to the ground “Are you alright, miss?” the Doctor asked, checking her over.

“I’m fine”, Imogen replied, trying to ignore how her heart sped up at the way he was looking at her, concern in those warm brown eyes “thank you for saving me”.

“You’re welcome”, the Doctor said. He got up and helped her to her feet. “Why did you run back there?” he asked “when I approached you?”

“I thought you were someone else”, Imogen quickly replied “but that’s my mistake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be”. She started to walk away when the Doctor lightly grabbed her hand.

“Wait”, he said “you’re the woman of my dreams”.

Imogen was a little surprised by this. Yes, Martha had told her that the Doctor aka John Smith had been having dreams of his previous adventures and he had been talking quite a bit about her. But she didn’t expect him to say that. “I’m sorry?” she asked, feigning confusion.

“What I mean is, I’ve been having dreams about you. Every night as a matter of fact. And I’ve been wanting to meet you for the longest time but of course I couldn’t because you weren’t real though now I can see that you _are_ real…” the Doctor rambled. He shook his head, realising that that he’d been going off on a tangent “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that I’d like to get to know you. The annual dance is happening at the Village Hall tomorrow night and I would be honoured if you’d go with me”.

Imogen knew that she should just say no. A stroll through the village was a big enough risk but the dance…that could bring unwanted chaos in to an otherwise peaceful place. On the other hand, she hadn’t seen the Doctor in two months and she really did miss him. Besides she could now help Martha keep an eye on him, keep him out of danger. “I’d love to”, she said.

The Doctor smiled “great”, he said “did you still have somewhere to be or would it be too much of an imposition to ask you back to the school?”

“No, it wouldn’t be an imposition at all”, Imogen replied “in fact I would be delighted to go back with you”. The Doctor’s smile grew wider. He proffered an arm to her and she took it. Together they headed back to the school.


End file.
